66 WILD LIFE IN NORTH CANARA. 



sions they speared any creature that 

 came into the net, leopards, hyenas, and 

 even tigers, as well as deer or hog, but 

 they never attempted to deal with 

 bison in this way. When I was with 

 them, my friends made it a point of 

 etiquette that I should give the coup de 

 grace to any animal of mark, and I once 

 had to come from my post beyond the 

 net, and put an end to a leopard which 

 was pinned helpless to the ground, on 

 its back, by two spears through the 

 loose skin of the neck. 



The nets were made of the tough 

 rope twisted by the hunters themselves, 

 from the fibre of the pandanus, or wild 

 pine-apple, which abounds all over 

 southern India. When these nets were 

 reared for game, a long lane of about 



