THE TEAK HEGION 185 



the jungles for Wood-cutting, etc., of whereabouts the 

 sambar are feeding and resting at that particular season, 

 capital sport can be got with them in the daytime with the 

 aid of a riding elephant. This enables you to see over 

 the grass, and generally starts any sambar that may be 

 lying down within about a hundred yards. The elephant 

 must be thoroughly trained to stop dead short on deer 

 getting up, and should not be furnished with a howdah, 

 the simple pad or chdrjdmd being preferable for this sort 

 of shooting ; and the smaller and more active the elephant 

 is the better. You should start about eleven o'clock and 

 hunt till sundown, proceeding as silently as possible 

 through the longest patches of grass, with rifle on full 

 cock, for you do not generally get much time to make 

 ready once the deer get up. The presence of recently used 

 forms (which will be known by the droppings) will indicate 

 the probable proximity of deer; and it is better to beat 

 thoroughly a limited area than hastily a large extent of 

 country. Where the hills rise by steps, as is often the 

 case in the trap country, the outer edge of each step is the 

 most likely place, and the sambar will almost always run 

 up-hill. A standing shot may sometimes be had during 

 a few seconds after the sambar first rise, but more generally 

 they dart off at full speed at once, and then comes into 

 play the most diflS.cult of all the arts of the rifleman — 

 snap-shooting at running game off an elephant. The 

 elephant is never perfectly still for more than a moment, 

 and its short swing must be allowed for as well as the pace 

 of the deer. The sambar is, of course, from its great size 

 and distinct colour, much more easy to hit than the spotted 

 deer, or barking, or hog, deer; but still it is amazing 

 what a preponderance of clear misses the best shots will 

 make at even rimning sambar ofi the elephant, rmtil 

 long and constant practice has given the peculiar knack 

 which is so difficult to attain. It is, however, by far the 

 most deadly as well as one of the most enjoyable ways 

 of hunting the sambar. The best stags will, however, 

 seldom be obtained by this method, lying as they do on 

 the tops of remote hills, where one might search for and 

 not find' them for a week. 



