252 FOREST LIFE AND SPORT IN INDIA 
interesting walk through the forest on the trail. 
More than once a bull was suddenly detected, stand- 
ing morosely in thick cover, only to dash away with 
a snort before the rifle could be raised; for these 
beasts are wary and have keen scent and hearing, 
and the cunning displayed in doubling back on their 
trail, so as to keep it within view, is a well-known 
attribute that increases the danger in tracking a 
wounded animal. Yet ultimately the hunter’s luck 
again descended. I was following a trail on an open 
plain covered with knee-high grass and shrubs, when 
we heard a sound as if of the approach of a cavalry 
squadron at full gallop, and in a few seconds a 
procession of three bulls came in sight. As usual, 
the smallest was leading, and the heaviest bringing 
up the rear; they passed at about 30 yards dis- 
tance, so close that a neck shot was easy, and one 
stumbled on to his head, shaking the earth with his 
fall. The second bullet struck the next largest in 
the body, but two days’ tracking failed to recover 
him, and it appeared probable that he soon recovered 
from the wound, as it did not seem to hamper his 
movements in any way. 
The forests of Raipur have a great future before 
them; they are exceptional in the value of their 
stock and in the facilities they will enjoy from future 
railway construction ; but what was of most interest 
was the attempt that was being made to establish 
the cultivation of lac as a forest industry. As is 
well known, the lac of commerce in its various forms 
is the production of a minute insect which in very 
early infancy fixes its proboscis into the tender twig 
of a suitable tree, and thenceforward passes its life 
