MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 627 



No. VI.— AN OLD TIME BUFFALO HUNT. 



In Volume XXVII, No. 2, of this Society's Journal we i)ublished the Sporting 

 Diary of H. H. the Maharaja of Bikaner, in which His Highness records 

 the shooting of a wild buffalo which was accustomed to associate with the tame 

 buffaloes of the village. 



The association of Wild Bull Buffaloes with domestic herds has often been 

 commented on by Sportsmen. •' Bhootan " \^Titing in the Asian in November 

 1870 records a similar instance. He describes the death of a veteran Bull 

 Buffalo who for 7 years evaded every effort to ' bag ' him. He bore a charmed 

 existence and was knowTi to sportsmen as the Jaintee Bull. For years he made 

 a practice of fraternising A^th the herds of domestic buffaloes in his neighbour- 

 hood. The herdsmen were not at all afraid of him and rather shielded him 

 from the attention of ' shikaris ', never giAang ' khuber ' of where he could 

 be met mth. As time went on he grew bolder and would accompany the herds 

 home in the evening and after they had been milked would remain with them 

 all night perfectly oblivious to the presence of the cow-herds. The policy of 

 live and let live was maintained between the man and beast till our ancient 

 Lothario embarked on a policy of abducting some of the cow buffaloes from 

 amongst the herds, occasionally driving one or two of them away with him in to 

 the forest, finally he cajjped his misdemeanours by killing one of the herdsmen 

 and wounding another, who died 3 days afterwards from the effects of the fright- 

 ful gashes he had received. This reused the herdsmen from their apathy and 

 they came and begged ' Bhootan ' and his friends to rid them of the dread 

 Buffalo. The party set out armed to the teeth. There were 7 guns in all, as 

 ' Bhootan ' describes it a " mixed battery which included 12 bore double- 

 barrelled shot guns, 10 bore double-barrelled rifles and a double-barrel and a 

 single barrel "500 express." It was half past five in the evening when they 

 arrived, the held was just dribbling in and so thej^ hurriedly took up their 

 position on and in the herdsmens' houses. All of them except one " C "".who 

 being short-sighted and haAong his doubts about being able to recognize the wild 

 buffalo from the tame ones, wished to establish a coign of vantage for himself in 

 the Idtchen among the milk pails, to which the lady of the house took exception. 

 In the midst of a heated altercation he that was expected arrived, heralding 

 his coming with a series of grunts. Bhootan says he was " a magnificent 

 sight as he advanced straight towards us ! how he towered above the tame 

 cows he was following." 



The Buffalo crossed over to within 25 yards and at a word from ' Bhootan ' 

 received a broadside from the assembled battery, but " instead of roUing on the 

 ground gives a slight shake of his head, wheels round and is off pursued by the 

 hunters who tumble off the roof in their eagerness to be up and at him." He is 

 eventually discovered standing in the tall grass some 70 yards off " and then says 

 'Bhootan' such an independent firing commenced as must have astonished him. 

 The shooting appears to have been "promiscuous" and 'Bhootan', brought to a 

 sense of his imminent danger by a bullet wizzing past liis ear, puts a temporary 

 end to the bombardment, counsels restraint and so with more caution the party 

 proceed. Advancing about 20 yards 'Bhootan' sees a dead buffalo lying on the 

 ground " but at the same moment ' Y ' began firing in another direction saying 

 he could see him." 'Y' is implored to desist. Quite unable to understand how 

 two buffaloes had appeared on the scene, they creep cautiously up and to 

 their extreme disgust find a tame buffalo stone dead with a bullet through the 

 forehead. It was a humiliating discovery and says 'Bhootan' " others might 

 be lying dead around near ' who coiild tell ' ". Nothing definite is stated but 

 one rather feels that the aforenamed short sighted 'C ' was probably connected 

 with the dead buffalo. There was only one thing to be done now, concludes 

 'Bhootan' we must get the bull. He climbs a small tree to see if lie can sight 



