CHAPTER IV 



SPORT IN THE PLAINS AND THE SIWALIK HILLS 



Two days of 1896 had elapsed before I got any 

 shikar. On the third, however, two of us went 

 out ten miles from Meerut and bagged a good 

 black buck. 



Many people in India despise black-buck shoot- 

 ing, but it is really very good fun if not overdone, 

 and there are many slower forms of entertainment 

 than riding about the country with a rifle for buck, 

 a gun for jheels (swamps) where duck or snipe may 

 be seen, and a spear for anything rideable. The 

 procedure, as a rule, is as follows : Ponies are 

 sent out overnight, and one drives out in the 

 morning ; then, having mounted, one rides off, 

 attended by the syce and a shikara, and all keep a 

 sharp look-out. A small reward to whoever first 

 spots buck is a wonderful encouragement to eye- 

 sight. A herd having been sighted, all depends 

 on the season of the year and the ground ; should 

 crops be standing, a stalk is a fairly easy matter, 

 or often use may be made of a nullah or one of the 



