SMALL GAME SHOOTING. 
35 
white, a sort of '*swamy " or sacred stone. My horse shied 
at it, and as he wheeled round with his good eye he saw the 
yawning gulf below. By a desperate effort he threw himself 
back on the path with his hind quarters dangUng over the 
drop. I felt him gradually slipping back ; fortunately there 
was the branch of a tree overhanging us, and by standing up 
in my stirrups I managed to reach it. The horse, relieved 
of my weight, struggled back on to the path, and I, with the 
assistance of the branch, did the same. It all occurred in less 
than a minute. I was too occupied to see how awful it was, 
but my friend, who was leading, told me it was one of the 
most frightful scenes he had ever beheld. We quietly 
returned to the bungalow, and never again attempted to 
ride down the pass of the Happy Valley. 
I had more small game shooting in these days, than I 
ever had afterwards. We generally took a Une through the 
low jungle with a dozen or so of beaters and shot everything 
in the shape of game we came across, consisting chiefly of 
partridges, quail, hares, florikin, with an occasional peafowl, 
and more rarely a chickara or ravine antelope. I have had 
many a pleasant day's shooting in this style, and though our 
bags were not great, there was a sufficient variety to keep up 
the excitement. A florikin, like a woodcock in England, was 
a pri^e worth getting, and many a mile I have ridden for the 
chance of one, when news has been brought in of their 
whereabouts ; it is generally found in long grass, also in 
grassy bush jungle, flies heavily and easily shot, but 
eagerness to bag often results in a miss. It is a very 
delicate bird for the table. In some of the grass ground 
quails were very numerous, affording capital sport, twenty or 
thirty brace to one gun being not an uncommon occurrence. 
