76 THE GAUR. 



sort of shooting in a country where it was possible to stalk them on foot. Driving is also 

 sometimes resorted to, but I do not consider it a very sportsmanlike proceeding, and it is 

 attended with much uncertainty. 



My opportunities of Gaur-shooting have been few, but I have seen just enough of the 

 sport to acquire a keen liking for it, and I consider that it is perhaps only equalled in interest 

 by the pursuit of the Ibex and the great Thibetan sheep. 



I first made the acquaintance of the Gaur in May 1878, in the Sikkim Terai. I had been 

 shooting on Elephants for a week with two friends ; we had bagged a Tiger apiece, a Rhino- 

 ceros, and several deer, and on my friends leaving me, I determined to see what could be done 

 on foot along the base of the hills. I accordingly moved my camp to Sevook, on the right bank 

 of the Teesta river, just where it leaves the hills. Here I found an intelligent Nepalese who 

 told me that he could show me ' Gdori-gai', and by daylight on the morning after my 

 arrival we had reached the top of a low plateau about a mile from camp. Here we found 

 ourselves in a beautiful forest, and my guide assured me that we should probably find game. 

 We had not gone far before we came upon fresh tracks of three Gaur, and we proceeded to 

 follow them up, which was easy enough, as the soil was soft and moist from recent showers. 

 Before long we heard branches breaking a short distance ahead, and on carefully steal- 

 ing up in the direction of the sound, I found two Elephants quietly feeding. As they 

 were forbidden game I contented myself with watching them for a few minutes as they 

 unsuspiciously fed within a few yards of me, and then resumed the track of the Gaur. 

 Three or four hundred yards farther on my Shikari drew my attention to two Gaur which 

 were browsing on some low trees to our right, and I had no difficulty in stalking to 

 within about seventy yards of the nearer of the two. He was feeding away from me, but 

 halted at such an angle that I thought that I could send a bullet diagonally through him. 

 I accordingly fired steadily at his flank, fully expecting him to drop on the spot. As the 

 smoke cleared away nothing was to be seen, but my attention was distracted by a crash 

 in the jungle to the rear. Running back to ascertain what it was, I was told that another 

 Elephant had been disturbed by my shot, and had rushed past the Shikaris. I quickly 

 returned to the spot where the Gaur had been standing, and soon found great clots of blood 

 which showed us the direction that it had taken. Following up, along a steep hill-side, I 

 again obtained a glimpse of the bulls, but they soon entered a nearly impervious thicket 

 of tall grass and cardamums, which it was utterly useless to attempt to explore on foot. 



In the afternoon I again went out on a pad Elephant, and rode through the forest in 

 another direction. Coming upon tracks of Gaur, which a close examination showed to be 

 perfectly fresh, I dismounted and took up the trail, directing the Mahout to remain well 

 behind, and just keep us in sight. Easily read signs showed that the Gaur had been 

 travelling leisurely, feeding as they went, and their course was a very erratic one. At length 

 we reached a space nearly clear of trees, but covered with patches of high grass. I was 

 entering one of these, in which the grass was just up to my eyes, and my Shikari was a 

 pace or two to my left, when I suddenly caught sight of the muzzle and horns of a bull 

 within ten yards of me ! 



