KASHMIR AND ASSAM 281 
are easily avoided in this hilly country, and perhaps 
as easily evade their hunters, for they grow to a 
great size, and a pair of tusks, each 6 feet long 
and fairly symmetrical, was eagerly purchased in 
Calcutta, on its written description alone, for 
60 guineas. This elephant had been killed in self- 
defence by forest guards armed with antiquated 
Snider rifles. Personally I saw no elephants during 
my tour, and I did not regret it. We lived in 
shanties made of bamboo, the staircase being a 
notched stick, and an elephant of the size of those 
whose footprints we inspected could have flattened 
the whole outfit without even being aware that 
there were human beings inside. 
From thence the Goalpara district was visited, a 
Tarai country of grass and swamps, where rhinoceros, 
elephants, bison, buffalo, and tiger, still roamed in 
comfort, and where every stream held mahseer eager 
to take the most primitive bait. Mr. W. Perree 
was the officer in charge, and what he did not know 
about these beasts, dead or alive, was hardly worth 
further study. In the search for rhinoceros, in 
which we were unsuccessful owing to the heavy 
grass of winter, we saw many elephants and bison ; 
and the start before dawn, in the chilly darkness, 
was amply rewarded by the weirdness of the land- 
scape as the grey light crept up, revealing herds of 
bison still grazing in the open country. There 
were bulls and cows and calves feeding in peaceful 
confidence, nor did we fire a shot to alarm them as 
they trundled away into the forest; but to be seen 
at his best the bison should be on firm ground on a 
steep hillside, when the agility and speed of so 
