236 POSTSCRIPT. 



be spoiled if left to the natives, I remained in camp the following morning to superintend 

 the skinners, and sent out men to reconnoitre. One of them soon returned with news, and 

 I at once accompanied him to where the others had remained to watch, little more than a 

 mile from camp. The Gaur had been seen on the summit of a low ridge, and along this 

 I walked, expecting to see them in the valley below. Suddenly, I came upon them lying 

 down in a small hollow : they were within twenty-five yards, but quite unconscious of my 

 presence. Presently they rose slowly and stood gazing at me for nearly two minutes : 

 there was absolutely no cover, so they had a perfect view of me, but they seemed to know 

 that I would not molest them. There were one very young bull and two cows, so I refused 

 to fire, although my men were anxious that I should do so. At last the Gaur walked 

 quietly away, and descended into a wooded valley. In the evening I had a long walk, but 

 only saw some small Gaur, probably the same that I had seen in the morning. 



The next day the men with me declared that all the Gaur must now have left the 

 neighbourhood, but before making any farther plans I despatched three or four men to the 

 jungle where I commenced my shooting, with orders to ascertain whether any Gaur had 

 returned to it. I also ordered other men to reconnoitre in the vicinity of camp, while I again 

 looked after the skins. 



As I was at breakfast a man returned, stating that he had found the track of a solitary 

 bull close to camp, and had followed it until it had joined others, shortly after which he had 

 actually seen the animals, which two other men were remaining to watch. I was not long 

 in getting ready, and half an hour's walk brought me to the place where the men were 

 keeping watch on the top of a hill. They informed me that there were several Gaur, which 

 had separated into two lots, and were now lying or standing in the shade, several hundred 

 yards apart. Each lot was said to be headed by an old bull, and the finer of the two was 

 now lying on a flat immediately below us. They pointed him out to me, and I at once saw 

 that the stalk ought to be an easy one. 



The bull was lying at the foot of one of the few trees which grew on the nearly bare 

 flat, which was bounded by the steep hill-side above, and by deep ravines on each side, the 

 ravines uniting a short distance below where the bull lay. 



Going well to leeward along the hill-top, I took advantage of a ravine which ran down 

 the hill-side to descend under cover until I was well below the level of the flat. I then 

 worked up the bed of one of the ravines until I believed that I must be very near the bull. 

 Cautiously ascending the bank, I looked over, and soon observed a black mass lying at the 

 foot of a tree about two hundred yards off. I thought that this must be the bull, but it 

 remained absolutely motionless, and after examining it for some time with my binoculars, 

 I came to the conclusion that it was only a rock. I therefore slowly advanced, but had 

 fortunately only moved a pace or two, when a whisk of his tail betrayed the bull. Very 

 carefully I crept back into the ravine and went along its bed, until I knew that I must be just 

 opposite the bull. Stepping as lightly as possible, I re-ascended the bank, and on reaching 

 the top, found myself within thirty-five yards of the bull, who at once rose to his feet. The 

 trunk of the tree under which he had been lying was between him and me, and I could 



