THE SPOTTED DEER. jg, 



tivc to young trees, is innocuous to those of mature growth ; while by its fertilization of the 

 soil it greatly encourages the development of grasses and other undergrowth. 



It did not take me long to approach to within easy shot of the stag, and I was soon watch- 

 ing him and calculating the length of his shining white antlers from behind a small knoll, with 

 the comfortable conviction that I could gain possession of the trophy whenever I chose. 

 After observing his movements for a short time, I took advantage of his being in a o- 00 d 

 position, and dropped him on the spot. He was in excellent condition, and, even after beino- 

 ' gralloched,' proved a sufficient load for the two men who had to carry him to camp. 



Subsequently hearing that three Officers, with whom I was acquainted, were shooting in 

 the jungles at the foot of the hills, I paid them a visit, and we arranged to join our forces 

 and have a general beat with Elephants. By a general beat I mean that we were to fire at 

 anything, for we had reason to believe that our two parties had already accounted for most 

 of the Tigers that had been known to be in the vicinity. 



We had hopes that we might, by good luck, add another Tiger to the bag, but we were 

 not sanguine ; and were therefore not disappointed when the decomposing carcase of a 

 small Tiger, which one of the party had wounded and lost on the previous day, was all that 

 we saw of the feline tribe. Curiously enough too, although on previous days, when we were 

 only after the nobler game, we saw any number of deer, to-day they were few and far between 

 and it was seldom that the forest was disturbed by the echoes of a rifle-shot. In one particular- 

 ly thick piece of cover, however, I espied an old stag Chi'tal with his head down, apparently 

 shrinking into the smallest possible space, sneaking away through the bushes. Stopping my 

 Elephant, I lost no time in bringing the sights of my rifle to bear on the rapidly disappearino- 

 form of the stag, and although the smoke hung in the heavy cover to such a degree that I 

 could not at first see the result of the shot, on pressing forward we soon came upon the 

 deer lying gasping on the grass. After duly admiring the beautiful animal we ' padded ' him 

 and continued the beat, but though several other deer and some Pig were shot, I was the only 

 one of the party fortunate enough to secure any trophy worth having, on that day. 



The best Chi'tal 's head I ever procured was the one here photographed. On the 12th of 

 May, 1865, I was encamped in Dholkand in the Sewaliks. My friend R, who was with 

 me, had gone out early in the morning to look for a Bear whose tracks he had seen the 

 day before. I remained in camp, but after a time, my attention was drawn to some Chi'tal 

 which were barking and making a great noise not far from the tents. I went out and 

 soon found the herd, but they were in motion before I observed them. I followed them up, 

 and got a shot at the stag at one hundred and seventy yards, as he went up the opposite side 

 of a ravine. I broke his fore-leg and fired three other shots at him as he stood, hittino- him 

 with one. He then rushed down into the ravine, which became much narrower farther on ■ 

 I therefore sent a man round to head him, and then, following him up, hemmed him into a 

 narrow place where I caught him by the horns. The antlers, as will be seen by the photograph, 

 were very thick and symmetrical, and I have never seen a finer pair in any one's possession. 



I once, however, saw a stag in the Sewaliks whose horns seemed to be enormous very 



much larger than any others I ever saw : unfortunately I could not get a shot at him. 



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