THE -450 EXPRESS. 65 



place, and, to crown all, there was but one bedstead, which fell to my lot, 

 so iny chnm had to sleep on the hard floor. We pulled some of the 

 matting over and made a rough and hard foundation for his bedding. 

 Next morning we sent for the Thanadar of the village, and ordered a 

 bullock-cart and shikarie, but none arrived till neare vening ; we sallied 

 out, but saw nothing, and returned in the dark to supper and bed. 



The following day we arose very early, and started off in a bullock - 

 ecka for a drive of thirteen miles further, to reach some of the real 

 haunts of the buck. Our drinking water was bad, the sun hot, and the 

 air dusty, so we had a rough time of it till " tiffin," when we were at last 

 rewarded by the sight of a couple of buck and a few does. After them 

 we went, keeping to the left, to try for a gradual approach to shooting 

 distance. Some thin bushes were growing about 120 yards from where 

 they were lying, behind which my chum dropped for a stalk, he having 

 won the toss for first shot. He could not manage to get into a decent 

 position, for the does kept moving around the bucks, covering them just 

 as his aim was perfect. I had walked on with the ecka, but seeing the 

 game was very uneasy, I asked him if I should fire, at last. He said yes ; 

 but they had begun to gallop before I could draw a bead, and then I 

 found the difficulty of judging the distance ahead at which to aim. 

 However, the hammer fell and ditto the buck; up he got immediately 

 and bolted at a tremendous pace, with both hind legs trailing behind him. 

 I followed ; but so many natives gave chase that I tried to finish him at 

 once with a second bullet. I missed and then kept up the chase on foot, 

 missing four more shots. At last the natives were all left in the ruck, so 

 I was able to slow down a bit, and the poor brute turned into a small 

 patch of bushes. My chum came up, the natives following, but we made 

 them keep back a long way, and gave the buck half an hour's time ; it 

 was probable he would be unable to bolt again. I was truly sorry at 

 having shot him so badly, and wished to put him out of pain; the 

 pleasure of shooting had vanished when we saw his sad plight. We then 

 walked round the patch on either side, and he actually moved out again 

 but slowly to be finished by a bullet from my chum's rifle. We held a 

 court of inquiry on him, and found my bullet had broken both hind legs 

 just above the hocks ; his horns were a little under 22in. 



From the above it will be easily learnt how unlikely one is to recover 

 a buck with one leg broken ; for this poor brute travelled between two 

 and three miles with two in that condition. 



We reached the rest-house at midnight, slept sound, and travelled 

 back next day, looking up some nilghai en route, too tame to shoot ; we 

 reached our camp at four a.m., and marched with the regiment at six. 



There cannot be a doubt that the accuracy of the rifle was the cause 

 of iny hitting the buck ; if it had been a bad one, the trajectory would 

 have been high, and the chance of a miss much greater ; my own error 

 was as to the animal's speed, and probable check while pressing the 

 trigger. 



F 



