50 THE HIGHLANDS OF CENTRAL INDIA 



antelope on fair hard ground, though under conditions 

 unduly favourable to the dogs they have sometimes done 

 so. A shooting horse, like several which I have possessed, 

 who is quite steady under fire, does not need to be tied, 

 and will come to call, is a perfect treasure for many sorts 

 of sport in India. As in all good qualities, the Arab is 

 the most likely to develop such a character; but most 

 horses are capable of being taught something of the 

 business. Should neither horse nor hounds be at hand, 

 a wounded buck should not be followed up too quickly. 

 If left to himself he will probably lie down in the first 

 cover he comes to; and by watching the line he takes 

 you may often follow up and secure him. 



In upper India they are frequently shot by approach- 

 ing them on a riding camel. The more bells and gay 

 trappings he has on him the better, as the antelope on 

 this plan fall victims to their curiosity and amazement. 

 I brought down to Central India with me a trained camel, 

 with which I had thus bewildered many an antelope into 

 rifle distance ; but after getting some dangerous tumbles, 

 owing to the yawning cracks that form in the black soil 

 in these provinces after the rains, I had to abandon the 

 camel as a shooting vehicle. As a sport antelope-shooting 

 palls upon the taste. There is too much of it, and it 

 lacks variety. So I should think also would be the case 

 with much of the African sport we read of. To the 

 beginner in Indian sport, however, there is no pursuit 

 more fascinating. The game being nearly always within 

 sight, the excitement is maintained throughout the day's 

 sport. Simple as it seems, it takes a good man and a 

 good rifle to make much of a bag when the antelope 

 have been much disturbed. The old hand is apt to smile 

 at the enthusiasm of the " grifi " when he dilates on the 

 glories of antelope-stalking; but the time was when he 

 too passed through the stage at which the acquisition of 

 a particular long spiral pair of horns was more to him 

 than the wealth of all the Indies, and when nothing 

 impressed him so profoundly with the vanity of all human 

 affairs as the miss of "a few inches " under or over, 

 which so frequently terminated the weary stalk. Perhaps 



