CHAPTER XX 



An apology and explanation — Big-game shooting and the camera — Some 

 advice on the subject — How a tine picture was saved — Morumgoa and 

 Goa — Poisonous water snakes and jelly fish — Phenomenal rainfalls 

 — Ancient rights and dignity — Convicted criminals at large — Method 

 of dispensing justice — A lengthy trial — Distortion of evidence — Paid 

 by the page— Judges fees — How regulated — More prisoners out of 

 gaol than in it — A Gilbertian system — Result of the trial — An 

 interesting but depressing relic — A city of palaces that was — The 

 cathedral and shrines — Site of " Auto da fe " — St. Saviour, the Patron 

 S&mt — Curious discrepancies — The convent by the sea — An old story 

 retold — Abduction of a nun — A modem Paladin — An unpleasant 

 surprise — The great Festival of the Church — Mummified body of the 

 Saint — A sacrilegious souvenir hunter — The glass coffin — Traiisfer to 

 Poonah — A bed of sedition — Absence of sport — EflFect of the war on 

 India — Surat my next station — The " Cradle of India " — Battered 

 forts and ruins — The Nawabs and their descendants— An ancient 

 Begum — Opposing factions — Pearl trade — Origin and present position 

 — German intrigues and aspirations — The pearl merchant — The sorting 

 and polishing processes — A magnificent specimen. 



I MUST apologize for tlic length of my Kctiiiv on the curing 

 and preservation of trophies, whioli has proved mueh 

 longer than I intended, and will, I fear, make dull reading 

 to the ordinary reader. Still, as tliis subject is one of such 

 itnportance to sportsmen, for whom this work is primarily 

 intended, I felt tliat for the instructions to be of any value, 

 it was necessary- to give them in suHicient detail to be 

 clearly understcMxl ; for, after all, rvci» from the sportsman's 

 point of view, there would hv n<i nhit ( i m shooting big game 

 if their heads ami skins could not be preserved as mementos 

 of his prowess. 



While on this subject I take the opportunity also of 

 advising strongly all who intend indulging iii big-gimic 

 shooting to invest in a good camera, and to acquire a 

 thorough knowledge of photography in all its details. 



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