DANDILLV FOREST, 
41 
the difficulty of distinguishing animals on account of the 
adaptation of their colour to that of surrounding objects ; 
even old hands are often deceived. For example, the axis, or 
spotted deer as it is generally called, is something like the 
fallow deer in colour, only the white spots and markings are 
more distinct, and the body is a brighter red ; one would 
imagine such a conspicuous animal could be easily distin- 
guished in the forest, but the spots and colour so amalgamate 
with the broken lights and shades that i have often taken a 
shot at what 1 thought was a solitary spotted deer, and have 
been astonished to see ten or twelve dash away. The tiger, 
again, with his bright body, black stripes and white markings, 
is most difficult to see in the forest, and even on the open hill 
side ; at 300 or 400 yards distant not a stripe is distinguish- 
able. More than once I have mistaken a tiger for a light- 
coloured hind sambur, until I have brought the telescope to 
bear and seen my mistake, 
I had a long time to wait before I could get leave to 
visit this glorious forest ; at last the happy day arrived, and I 
having procured a month's leavfe started with a brother 
officer at half- past four one fine morning, and rode as hard 
as we could gallop to Dharwar, seventy-eight miles distant I 
had six horses posted and my companion five ; there was 
nothing but a kind of bridle path between the two stations in 
those days, and although the country was very Hat and open 
we managed to lose our way, fortunately, however, recovering 
it without much loss of time. The next day we rode twenty- 
four miles, and the following morning soon got over the 
remaining ten to the Dandilly bungalow. There w^e found 
old Emam, the head shikarie, waiting for us ; he was quite a 
character and a splendid stalker— a huge stout negro con- 
