I 



FOUR DAYS 123 



would be useless and checked me. Dhokuri, 

 however, rose to the occasion. Seeing the direc- 

 tion in which the buffalo was going, and 

 recognising that the necessary sprint was 

 beyond my capacity, he seized Tweedie by 

 the hand and started at a run for another nullah, 

 which the buffalo was bound to cross, and in the 

 centre of which a convenient rock offered a 

 splendid position either for attack or defence. 

 They reached the nullah and posted themselves 

 upon this rock ; and after a short wait the 

 buffalo appeared, limping badly, and two more 

 bullets from Tweedie' s '500 black powder Express 

 laid him low. 



He had a good symmetrical head, the length 

 round the outside of the horns and across the 

 forehead being 7 feet 10 J inches. 



I was very elated, and should have been quite 

 satisfied if I had had no more shooting ; but the 

 most wonderful good fortune was still in store 

 for me. 



On the following morning we returned to the 

 camp where I had shot the tiger. Our permit 

 in Bindra Nawagarh covered one buffalo and two 

 gaur or bison, but the Deputy Commissioner of 

 the district, when giving us the permit, had 

 expressed himself very doubtful as to the 

 possibility of our getting any bison so early in 

 the year. The rainy season, when the ground 

 is damp and the animal can be noiselessly 

 approached, is the best time for stalking and 

 shooting bison in the Central Provinces. 



The hot weather, however, was coming on, 

 and the firing of the grass on the hills had 



