146 WILD LIFE IN NORTH CANARA. 



for them, bison, elk, ibex, and of course 

 tigers, leopards, and bears are still to 

 be found ; so tbat a sportsman can still 

 find much to attract him on the Nil- 

 gherries. During a hasty visit to the 

 Nilgherries in 1863, I made a special 

 expedition to the haunts of the ibex, 

 an animal I had never yet shot and 

 had only once seen. Ibex are only 

 found on those skirts of the hills, where 

 both the green slopes and the forests 

 which clothe the sides of the plateau 

 give place to crag and precipice. Here 

 grow the herbs they love, and here 

 alone are to be found the perilous 

 homes accessible to none but themselves 

 and the eagles, and in which they find 

 peace and security. 



Making inquiries in the proper 



