35§ 



UNGULATES. 



man to the same degree as Bos gaurws does, it is only common in wild tracts of 

 country. It comes out on the grass slopes, where such exist, as in the Nilgiris and 

 other hill-ranges, to graze, but always takes refuge in the woods. It is but rarety 

 found associating in any numbers ; both stags and hinds are often found singly, 

 but small herds from four or five to a dozen in number are commonly met with. 

 Its habits are nocturnal ; it may be seen feeding in the morning and evening, but 

 it grazes chiefly at night, and at that time often visits small patches of cultivation 

 in the half-cleared tracts, returning for the day to wilder parts, and often ascending- 

 hills to make a lair in grass amongst trees, where it generally selects a spot well 

 shaded from the sun's rays. It feeds on grass, especially the green grass near 

 water, and various wild fruits of which it is very fond, but it also browses greatly 

 on shoots and leaves of trees. It drinks, I believe, daily, though Mr. Sterndale 

 doubts this ; it certainly travels long distances to its drinking-places at times." 

 As regards the date of the pairing-season and the time of shedding the antlers, 

 there appears to be even a still greater amount of variation than is the case with 

 the chital ; and it is stated on good authority that stags have been known to retain 

 their antlers for two or more years. It appears, however, that in peninsular India 

 the pairing-season usually takes place in October and November, although in the 

 Himalaya it occurs in the spring. Similarly, while in the former area the antlers 

 are most frequently shed in March, in the latter the shedding-time is deferred for a 

 month later. Usually there is but one fawn at a birth. 



During the pairing-season sambar assemble in large numbers, and at that time 

 the old stags utter at morning and evening, and sometimes in the night, loud roar- 

 ings, which have been described as a " metallic-sounding; bellow." 



Sambar are very tenacious of life, and require a well-placed bullet to bring 

 them to the ground. They are usually either stalked or driven by a line of beaters ; 

 but Sir Samuel Baker, when in Ceylon, was in the habit of hunting them with 

 hounds, and giving the coup-de-grdce with a knife. Describing his experiences in 

 that country, Sir Samuel writes that " we never drove the jungles with beaters, but 

 simply strolled through the most promising country, either upon ponies or on foot, 

 and took our chance of any game that we might meet. I rarely met sambar in the 

 low country ; and when living on the mountains at Newera Ellia, 6200 feet above 

 the sea, shooting was out of the question. Although the interminable forests of 

 that elevated district abounded with these animals, I have never seen one, unless 

 discovered by the hounds. The jungles are thick, and it is impossible to get through 

 them without noise and considerable exertion. The animals of course are alarmed, 

 and retreat before you are near enough to hear their rush. I have often taken my 

 rifle and sallied out before sunrise upon the wild 'patinas (open ground), where 

 nature rested in profound solitude ; but I have never seen a sambar in the 

 open." 



The hunting was conducted with a mixed pack of about fourteen couple of 

 hounds of various breeds, which were found better suited to this kind of sport than 

 pure-bred foxhounds : and the pack was always directed to the neighbourhood of 

 a stream, where the scent would be freshest, as the sambar drinks before retiring 

 to the densest depths of the jungle, in order to enjoy its day's repose. The speed 

 of the sambar is, according to Mr. Blanford, but very moderate ; and on the rare 



