In an Indian Jungle 



not be sure if I saw anything or not, so I shouted 

 back to him to shoot. Crack went his rifle, and 

 going up we found a large hyena stone dead with 

 a bullet through his neck. That night we were 

 serenaded by the mournful voice of a hyena, 

 probably the mate of the one we had brought in. 



The forest here was all divided into great 

 11 blocks" by broad rides, these "blocks" are 

 periodically closed to even the few sportsmen 

 who penetrate these regions, and are then termed 

 " band jungle " (closed jungle), and become a 

 sanctuary for game. 



Our regular shooting seldom began before 

 10 or 11 o'clock to give the elephants time to 

 have a feed, a business not to be hurried through 

 by the great beasts. One or two of us used to 

 put in the early mornings by walks along these 

 rides. As the sun rises, the stags return from the 

 more open country, where they have spent the 

 night, and seek the fastnesses of the forest. They 

 may frequently be seen crossing the rides while so 

 doing, and there is always the chance afterwards 

 of seeing some of the great carnivora who dog their 

 steps through life. Two of us one morning, stealing 

 as noiselessly as possible along a ride, one on each 

 side, hearing a heavy animal moving, lay down, 

 when lo ! out stepped a big Sambur stag and stood 

 across the ride, listening, within forty yards of us ! 

 Alas ! his horns looked too small, and glancing 



9 



