THE NARBADA VALLEY 57 



within fifty yards of Mm, will blunder ofi to the other 

 side of a nala, then turn round and stand still within 

 easy range of your rifle, and look as if he thought himself 

 a very clever fellow indeed for so thoroughly outwittiag 

 you. He is a favourite quarry with the unenterprising 

 Mahomedan gentleman. The antelope his style of dress 

 and powers of locomotion do not allow him to approach ; 

 the rugged ground and thorny underwood prohibit his 

 succeeding with the forest deer; the tiger he likes not 

 the look of, and the -pig he may not touch ; so he gets 

 him into a bullock-cart, and is driven within a few paces 

 of an unsuspecting blue bull, whose carcase, when shot 

 and duly cut in the throat after the rules of his faith, 

 makes for him the beef which his soul loveth. Awkward 

 and inactive as he looks, however, the blue bull, when 

 fairly pushed to his speed, will give a good horse as much 

 as he can do to overhaul him. It is in vain to attempt 

 it in or near the jungle ; but if you can succeed in getting 

 at him when he has a mile or two to go across the open 

 plain, a real good run may be had with the spear. I 

 have never heard of a blue bull attempting to charge when 

 brought to bay, in which respect, therefore, the sport of 

 riding them is inferior to pig-sticking. 



Such are the principal animals which form the objects 

 of the sportsman's pursuit in the open country. As, 

 however, in a state of nature, there never are herbivorous 

 creatures without their attendant carnivora to form a 

 check and counterbalance to them, so we find various 

 natural enemies attendant on the herds of antelope and 

 nilgae, whose acquaintance the sportsman will occasionally 

 make. The nilgae is a favourite prey of the tiger and 

 the panther. But it is in the low hills where he retires 

 during the day, rather than in the plains where he feeds 

 at night, that he meets these relentless foes; and the 

 chief carnivorous creatures of the open country are the 

 himting leopard,^ the wolf,^ and the jackal.^ 



I have several times come across and shot the hunting 

 leopard when after antelope; but they cannot be called 

 common in this part of India. They live mostly in the 

 ^ F. jubata. * C. palUpes. ' C. aicreus. 



