A DAYS SHOOTING ON THE NILGIRIS, 437 
trudging up these hills, andin the winter too; and reaching the top we see 
below us a large shola ending off in a long, narrow, wooded nala between two 
close hills. 
The shola does not look a likely place for cock so we beat it in the ordinary way; 
and that beast of a shikari’s dog gets loose and races through the shola ; presently 
it begins to yap and out darts a hare far out of range with the dog after it so we 
leave them and go on with the beating and are lucky enough to put out a jungle 
cock and hen (Gallus sonnerati) and I bag the cock but the hen slips by before 
I can turn round to get a shot at her. At what a pace these birds do fly when 
once they have got up steam ! from the look of them one would imagine them 
to be clumsy fliers, but far from it, one misses a great many more than one 
brings down through not aiming far enough forward. Then we come to the 
nala and the beaters are halted to enable me to get to an opening some hun- 
dreds of yards further down, C. and the shikari divide the distance between me 
and the beaters to spot if any cock tries to sneak out and back, and when I am 
ready the beaters advance slowly and quietly till they come to me when they 
wait for me to go on ahead again. 
The first advance draws a blank but in the second one C. spots a “ cock ” 
creeping along the bottom of the nala and gives me the tip that it is coming my 
way ; on they come and before long flush the “‘ cock ” which comes towards me 
twisting and twirling among the trees ; I dare not fire towards the beaters in 
case of hitting one and have to let the ‘‘ cock ” go past me and give him distance 
and just as he turns into another opening I catch him and bring him down. 
From the quantity of feathers that fly out we ail think it is a deader but on 
going up to the spot where it fell not a sign of the bird is to be seen and there is 
nothing for it but to cut down the bracken and bushes all round and search—and 
search we do for a good half hour and eventually the shikari who has scouted 
down the nala finds the woodcock a good hundred yards away hidden under a 
bush ; it is wonderful how these birds will run sometimes, wounded or not. 
Just at the end of the nala where it opens out into a small swamp, the beaters 
put up another hare on the opposite slope to the one Tam on and a fluky snap- 
shot bowls it over. It is now about midday and time for tiffin so C. and I seek a 
shady tree, yell for the basket-walla and set to with a relish while the men stray 
away to the stream and eat their food which each has been carrying tied up in a 
rag round his middle. 
After tiffin we pack up the remains and squeeze in the game and padlock the 
basket (a most necessary precaution) before sending it back to the gharry where 
the food and drink will come in well for tea when our day’s sport is finished. 
An hour’s halt and a pipe and it is time to be moving on if we are to complete 
the round as mapped out by Anthony. 
The beating during the afternoon is just the same as during the morning except 
that most game birds, as well as animals, will be found resting and sleeping till 
it is again feeding time and as the birds sit up in the densest parts of the trees 
where they are invisible from the ground it is very difficult to dislodge them and 
so one does not often get a shot, except at snipe, till 3-30 or so. But ground 
game of course is disturbed easily throughout the day and one often hears a 
crashing and thudding of feet in the sholas followed by the appearance of sam- 
bhar hinds and young, or may be a muntjac (barking deer or jungle sheep) will 
slip out quietly in front of the beaters and make for the nearest cover ; one 
could often shoot these little animals with large shot from a shot gun, but one is 
obliged by the rules of the game association to use ball for them. 
Not long ago when walking down a path through a very large shola near this 
self-same Forester’s Hut we saw distinct pug-marks of two tigers, apparently a 
female and cub ; these we followed for a couple of hundred yards or so to where 
the beasts had turned off the path into the jungle and as we had no rifle we went 
on; a few days later when my shikari was again in that neighbourhood he saw 
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