44 FOREST LIFE AND SPORT IN INDIA 
burst of the monsoon should cause the jungle to be 
again clad in greenery. It was, fortunately, just at 
this time that big-game shooting was at its best, or 
his solitude might have become unbearable. It is 
true that the sd4mbhar, swamp-deer, and hog-deer, 
have then thrown their horns, for their rutting 
season is in October or November ; but the spotted- 
deer are bellowing throughout the forest, and 
assuming their handsome coats of chestnut flecked 
with white, while the white gorget and the black 
tracery over the face mark the stag at this season 
with peculiarly beautiful colouring. No Indian stag, 
probably, carries a head so large in proportion to his 
size or so graceful in its sweep, for the weight of a 
good stag will only be about 170 pounds unbroken, 
while the record horn is about 38 inches long on the 
outside of the curve. 
The spotted-deer is a thirsty soul, and is never 
found far from water ; in the summer he will come 
to drink at midday, and in the evening nothing will 
keep him from rushing to the water-supply. They 
may then be heard advancing towards the edge of 
the forest, rustling through the dead leaves, till a 
hind appears in the open and stands sniffing in all 
directions, with ears twitching, seeking for the 
slightest scent or sound of danger; then, pushed on 
by those behind, the whole herd—maybe a hundred 
or more strong—emerge from the shadows of the 
great trees, and eagerly crop the grass on the open 
plain, at the same time steadily and hurriedly 
moving towards the nearest tank or stream. From 
your hiding-place you can note the stalks of the 
burnt grass striped with black from the charring of 
