CHAPTER X. 



THE WAINAAD FOREST. 



A Hunting Trip to Mndumallay. — Monkey Shooting. — The Karkhana. — The 

 Meanest ZS'atives in India. — Obstacles. — An Old Hypocrite. — Record of 

 One Day's Hunting. — Expert Trackers. — Bison. — A Long Chase. — Death of 

 a Sambur Stag. — A Herd of Wild Elephants. — An Attack by an Amateur, 

 on Foot and Alone — Close Quarters. — Failure. — Lost in the Jungle. — A 

 Sambur Killed by a Tiger. — A Bad Predicament. — Deliverance by a Lucky 

 Guess. — The Author's Status as a Shikaree. — Death of a Bull Bison. — 

 Skinning Under Difficulties.- Instinct of Self-preservation in Monkeys. 

 — Jungle Fever. — Native Cussedness again. — Return to Ooty. — A Good 

 Samaritan. — A Model (!) Physician. — Mr. and Mrs. Dawson. — Departure. 



Upon the Neilgherries, wild animals of all kinds are now so scarce 

 that they cannot be hunted with any degree of certainty, and the best 

 that either sportsman or naturalist can do is to make Ootacamund 

 his headquarters and hunt in the forests about the base of the hills. 

 Occasionally (three to five times a year), a tiger is met and killed 

 upon the hills, and an enthusiastic sportsman who is a good shot 

 may kill a wild goat or a stag sambur every week he is out ; but to 

 a collector who shoots for skins and skeletons tliis is ruinously slow 

 work. 



A few miles to the northwest of the XeUgherry plateau, and 

 4,000 feet lower, lies the great Wainaad Forest, like a vast pre- 

 serve, teeming with large game of many kinds and famous as a 

 hunting ground. My sporting friend had visited a certain portion 

 of it known as the Mudumallay Eeserved Forest, and he gave me 

 such glowing accounts of the Indian bison and deer to be found 

 there, that, after taking his report at a discount of fifty per cent., 

 I decided to go there for a fortnight's shooting under his advice 

 and guidance. 



"VVe hired four pack-ponies, loaded them with our outfit and pro- 

 visions, and at two o' clock in the afternoon we were all ready to 

 start. All except my friend's chief servant and right hand man. 

 He had been given an advance of four rupees wherewith to buy his 



