SHOOT THE ONLY STAG. 
53 
had been killed on the island for a long time, and the 
advantage of not wearing any conspicuous color when out 
after game was very manifest on this bccasion. We were 
posted by the side of the high road where the forest had 
been cleared and a scrub jungle had grown up. I saw the 
stag suddenly appear on some rising ground above the 
road and deliberately take his bearings. Now as ail my 
companions had something white about them which made 
them very conspicuous, and I had nothing of the kind visible, 
he came straight down to where I was standing, and on 
his coming within shot got the contents of both my 
barrels which turned him back severely wounded, and he 
fell dead after proceeding a short distance ; a fine beast, 
13 hands at the shoulder with small but very thick 
antlers. They tell me that the deer on the island never 
have very large antlers. My sporting friends after this 
event, took great pains to hide every scrap of white in their 
dress, but no more stags came to be shot. There was said 
to be a great number of tigers on the island and some 
hundreds of Chinamen were reported to be killed each year 
by them, but as the Chinamen belonged to secret societies 
who were in perpetual feud and always ready to kill each 
other, I am afraid many a murder has been falsely attri- 
buted to the "gendeman in stripes." In respect to this, 
1 was told rather an amusing story of a very knowing 
Chinaman. The stems of the large cable-like creepers 
that twine about the forest trees like huge snakes, are 
valuable on account of their variety of colour and beauty of 
grain, for wood veneering ; the above mentioned individual 
having found a spot where these valuable creepers abounded 
and fearing that others might reap the harvest, adopted an 
