198 THE MUSK-DEER. 



a severe cut across the palm of the hand from one of its sharp tusks : the wound was, 

 however, doubtless accidentally inflicted. 



Not long ago I was returning to my camp down a wooded valley, when one of my 

 coolies informed me that he had seen a Musk-Deer in the morning, and pointed out the 

 patch of forest into which it had gone. I therefore proceeded cautiously, keeping a sharp 

 look out, and on coming to a secluded spot, where scattered boulders and fallen trees strewed 

 the ground, I caught sight of the object of my search, standing motionless half-hidden by 

 the trunk of a tree, within thirty yards. At such short range a miss was impossible ; but 

 the deer bounded down the hill, to fall dead on the bank of the stream below. 



The last Musk-Deer I shot afforded an instance of the extraordinary tenacity of life 

 which animals will sometimes exhibit when mortally wounded, but not struck so as to 

 injure the most vital organs, or break any of the limbs. 



I was high up, close to the snow line, when I saw a Musk-Deer feeding in a small 

 grassy ravine, which the rays of the rising sun had just lighted up. I had no difficulty 

 in stalking to within about a hundred yards, and I fired a steady shot with a -450 Express. 

 The deer bounded into a small copse, on the edge of which it had been feeding ; but I soon 

 saw it struggling among the bushes, and presently it was still. I walked up to the spot, 

 and seized the deer by the hind-leg, telling my Shikari to cut its throat. As he was about 

 to catch hold of it, the deer made a struggle, escaped from my grasp, bounded down 

 the hill for a short distance, and then stopped. I went down, got within ten yards, and 

 threw three or four stones at it, striking it with the last, and sending it rolling down on to 

 the snow which filled the ravine below. 



We now went to pick it up, upon which the deer regained its legs and made off up 

 the hill at a wonderful pace. I did not like to fire again, but followed it up the hill, 

 expecting every minute that it would again lie down and give no further trouble. To our 

 astonishment, however, it continued its course upwards as if nothing had happened, and went 

 right out of sight, and I had to follow at least half a mile up a steep hill, and again shoot 

 it across a ravine. On examining it I found that my first bullet had struck rather too low 

 and too far back, but had cut out nearly the whole of the intestines. 



Although so much persecuted, Musk-Deer are still tolerably plentiful in certain localities ; 

 but, except to the professional hunter, they do not offer much attraction. 



