THE SAMBUR. 1 87 



There has been great discussion as to whether Sambur shed their horns annually o r 

 not : my own belief is that they do as a general rule, though there may be occasional 

 exceptions. I know that I have hunted in the Sewaliks throughout May and June, and 

 though I met with many stags I never found one worth shooting, all being either absolutely 

 hornless, or with short velvet-covered stumps. 



It is on this account that my experiences of Sambur-shooting have been very limited. 

 As in the case of the Kashmir Deer, I have seldom been able to hunt Sambur at the seasons 

 when they carried perfect horns, and I have never cared to shoot animals which afforded 

 no trophies. My best, and, in fact, only chance, was when hunting Gaur in Chota Nagpur 

 in January 1883 : upon this occasion I might have bagged one or two fine stags, but I would 

 not fire, for fear of disturbing the larger game. 



I am therefore unable to give a portrait of a Sambur stag. 



The hind much resembles that of the Red Deer, but it is darker in color, and probably 

 rather heavier. 



Sambur delight in stony hills, where there is plenty of cover, and where they can have 

 easy access to water. They browse more than graze, and are nearly nocturnal in their 

 habits. During the daytime they seek the most shady retreats, and old stags especially are 

 most difficult to find, frequently betaking themselves to almost inaccessible places where the 

 uninitiated would never dream of looking for them. The experienced hunter, indeed, has 

 frequently to depend more upon fortune than his own knowledge of woodcraft. 



Few animals will carry away more lead than the Sambur, and the two or three that I 

 have shot for the sake of the meat, have given me some trouble before I brought them 

 to bag. 



One day in the Sewaliks I was returning from an unsuccessful search for a wounded 

 Elephant, when I suddenly came upon a stag which was standing in a dry watercourse 

 The larder was empty, so, although his horns were in the velvet, I fired at him with a 10- 

 bore rifle. I struck him behind the shoulder, but a trifle too low, and he made off. A broad 

 trail of blood showed that he was severely wounded, but I had to track him for a long 

 distance across several ridges and valleys before I could overtake him, and give him a 

 finishing shot. 



Another, with perfect but small antlers, which I shot in the Sikkim Terai, led me a 

 similar chase, although my bullet was apparently well placed. 



In August 1865, I hunted for Jarao in the hills near Billing in Garhwal : I frequently 

 found fresh tracks, and several times at night I heard the singular trumpet-like call of the 

 deer close to my tent ; but though I worked perseveringly for more than a fortnight, I was 

 never fortunate enough to obtain even a glimpse of a stag. 



