AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



71 



and a Pariah dog, which last had the audacity to attack 

 my English Pointer. 



A fine setter, belonging to my companion, had a nar- 

 row escape this evening; he swam into the Hoogly, to- 

 wards some black object moving on the water, and which 

 turned out to be a Hindoo corpse with a koomer, or bull- 

 headed alligator feasting upon it. The dog turned tail 

 immediately, like a very prudent general, readily acknow- 

 ledging himself inferior to the enemy: but the koomer — 

 the most savage and fearless of the crocodile kind — would 

 not let him off so easily; but, leaving the black carrion, 

 darted after poor Don without delay. Don was in a devil 

 of a funk, and almost drowned himself through fright and 

 conglomeration of ideas; and though he was close to the 

 bank in a minute, and within ten paces of us, the alligator 

 would undoubtedly have shortened his tail a few inches, 

 if not his body also, had not S rapped away both bar- 

 rels into the koomer's eyes, and I joined him in the cour- 

 teous salute. The alligator gave a whisk with his long jag- 

 ged tail, and disappeared. Never was dog so happy as 



Don, or man as his master, for I think S gave more 



than a hundred rupees for the brute. 



Setters, pointers, terriers, and bull-dogs, are seldom 

 worth their keep in Bengal. Game is too plentiful, 

 and lies too well to require the aid of the two former, 

 which seldom live long, or retain their noses. Terriers 

 are useful as pets only, or for catching bandy coots. When 

 or where bull-dogs are useful, I have never been able to 

 discover. 



Shooting in India is pursued in three kinds of country 

 — the jungles, either grass or underwood; the paddy, or 

 rice field; and the fens, or rushy banks of rivers and nullas. 

 For the first, a couple or two of stout active spaniels may 

 be very serviceable; especially in the tangled coverts 

 which human beaters cannot penetrate, but which are hol- 

 low at the roots of the bushes. The sportsman may fol- 

 low the windings of the deer or buffalo tracks with his 

 ears and gun at full cock; and, if his dogs are alert, and 

 water not too distant, pea-fowl, jungle-fowl, and very pro- 

 bably a wild buck, will reward a few hours toil. For the 

 paddy-fields no dogs are required; a good double-barrel, 

 plenty of dust shot, a bottle of brandy, straw hat, a sound 

 liver, clear conscience, and a will ready made, fit him for 

 the sport. After the rains, when the rice-grounds are 

 partially overflowed, or still moist, the delightful recrea- 

 tion of snipe-shooting is most advantageously pursued. 

 The snipes throughout India are nearly as numerous as 

 mosquitoes, fly lazily, and would, perhaps, be more shy, 

 but for the danger which ever attends their destruction. 

 If the snipe-shooter intends to fill his bag, he must start 

 when the sun is hottest, trudge across the plains up to 



his middle in water, whilst his brains are addled by 

 the solar heat. Few snipe-shots live through two seasons; 

 but still 'tis sport — glorious sport!! In the fens, and on 

 banks of rivers — which are generally covered with masses 

 of rush or grass, twelve and fourteen feet high — a well- 

 trained spaniel may again be useful, especially if he is a 

 good retriever. Every dog is glad enough to take the 

 water in India; but they should not be allowed to indulge 

 too often in a bath when heated, or it will speedily beget 

 liver and canker in the ears. 



Coursing and antelope shooting are the only healthful 

 sports to be enjoyed in India — which I have found to my 

 cost — if we except, perhaps, those grand field days, which 

 can be enjoyed but seldom, as they require extensive pre- 

 parations, hosts of beaters, and a troop of elephants. Sin- 

 gle sportsmen cannot venture to rouse the tiger, leopard, 

 or wild buffalo, from their lairs in the heavy jungle. 



Jackals bite very hard, and not unfrequently spoil deli- 

 cate gray-hounds, which have not been used to such rough 

 treatment: the most savage and hard-mouthed dogs should 

 therefore be preferred, if they are expected to run at 

 every thing. Many men slip their gray-hounds after 

 hares, foxes, and spotted deer only. I think that speedy 

 lurchers would be found of great service; a brace of good 

 ones would turn up a hyaena, an animal frequently encoun- 

 tered when beating for jackals in a jungle country. Many 

 also, from fear of disheartening their dogs, never slip them 

 at the large red antelopes, whose surprising speed and 

 stoutness will beat most gray-hounds with the greatest 

 ease. In the sands of the Mahanuddy, and on the flats 

 bordering the Chilka Lake, these animals lose their supe- 

 riority, by reason of their cloven hoofs sinking into the 

 sand, whilst the spongy feet of the dogs buoy them up, 

 like camels, on the surface. During the dry season, when 

 the white sands of the river Mahanuddy lie exposed on 

 either side the channel, to a great extent, we used to ride 

 down the deer and antelopes with our horses alone, and 

 transfix them, en passant, with hog-spears. 



Monday, llth. — This night, which happened to be a 



clear starlight one, but without a moon, S • and myself 



determined to sit up for the jackals, a sport by no means 

 exhilarating to an old Indian, but from its novelty and 

 singularity peculiarly adapted to freshmen, who are not 

 afraid of the night air. 



I cannot imagine how we should get on in India with- 

 out that useful animal the jackal: he is positively bread 

 and cheese to sportsmen of all degrees; he is not, indeed, 

 food for the body, but he is for the mind; and is esteemed 

 by fox-hunters, coursers, shots, and badger-baiters, alike! 

 Nor must his universal services as a scavenger and de- 

 vourer of the village filth be overlooked. We hunt him, 



