542 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST, [Feb. 1, 1902. 
ping, anfl next morning I could find no tracks to 
help nie to identify them. As soon as jhe moon 
rose, and I could see a little, I had dinner, and 
as I finished I heard the sounds of a leopard about 
half a mile off in the valley below. Afoar-horned 
antelope that h: d been for some time near the 
water, but apparently rather neivons about drinking 
at last plucked up courage and waded through the 
mud to drink, and wht n the sounds of the leopard 
were repeated nearer and nearer, it gave its little 
barking call and scampered off. The leopard evidently 
did not want to drink, for though I heard it for 
nearly an hour, now a little nearer, and sgain a 
little further off, it never came within a quarter 
of a mile of me. The next sounds I heard were 
most weird. An appalling din arose about fifty yards 
behind me, as if a number of wild cats were fight- 
ing, but they never approached the water; at least 
1 never s-vv them do to, and their identity remains 
a mystery. I mast have dosed off for a few minutes 
for i suddenly became aware that there were eome 
big animals walking about nearly underneath me, 
and cracking the dead burnt branches bs they 
moved. They were evidently buffalo or bison, but 
which, I could not determine at first ; however, 
the moon for a minute showed out clearly, End I 
saw that one drinking at the water was a bison. 
There were six of them, and they must have stayed 
at least twenty minutes within thirty yards of me ; 
but it was not light enough for me to make out 
if there was a really good head among them, but 
they all looked enormous in the dim light, and it 
was a strange sensation to be so near to a herd 
of bison for so long a time without their being 
aware of my presence ; had it been lighter, all 
their movements would have been visible, and the 
sight would have been still more enjoyable. Be- 
fore the sound of the bisons' tread had died away, 
as they weiit down the valley, two bears came 
down from the hill behind me to the water. Of 
course they squabbled before they reached the 
water, and it was the sound of their quarrel that 
put me on the qui vive. 
Apparently one of the pair had been worsted, for 
only one came to the water in the ravine to my 
left. I could ea^ily make out a large black mass 
as the bear walked down the ravine side, and aiming 
at the front part of it I fired, my bullet fortunately 
penetrated the lungs and broke up these. To make 
certain I fired a second shot which broke the spine, 
and the poor bear's stbs ceased. Perhaps I ought 
not to have fired at the bear, but two-thirds of the 
night had pai-ted and no tiger had appeared, so I 
took what the gods sent me. There was one more 
visitor to the water before the ni^ht was over 
and this was a sambhur stag. I could hear its 
antlers strike against the lew branches of the trees 
as it came up and could just see its antlers as it 
drank, but the moon was much obscured, and I but 
hazily saw what with better luck would have been 
a magnificent sight. Then the east began to light 
up as the sun rose behind the hills, and I climbed 
down from my machan and inspected the bear, which 
proved to be a yeung male nearly 5 feet long. 
And BO the Pakrind tiger still remains to be shot. 
—Indian Forester. Long Tom. 
DISTILLATION OF RUHSA GRASS 
OIL, CENTRAL PROVINCES. 
The p:rass, Andropogon schoinanthus, oiHasha, 
grass, coinuionly known as " Tikliari," is a 
native ot Central Provinces. It grows wild ia 
swamps witii eiect culrn.s, and attains a height 
of liirce lo MIX feet. The leaves are long, smooth 
aud tapering, and have a strong aromatic smell 
and pungent taste. The root, locally knon'n as 
"Miichia Gant," is perennial, with long wiry 
fibres. 
The oil obtained from this plant has become 
an important article of commeice. It is now 
chiefly distilled in many pons of Cential Pio: 
vince.s, e.<ipec.ally in Betul, Nimar and Hosgan- 
had districts, by private persons, and taken to 
Eilichpur town, which is the chief market of 
expoit. Its current price is from F2 to K4 a 
pound according to its purity. T he grass is very 
abundant, and the distilling of the oil requires 
only a moderate s-kill and very .•^mall initial capital. 
About 60,0(0 (fifty thousand) pounds are ex- 
ported annually fiom Bombay to Arabip, and 
European Tuikey, Jedda and ports along the 
Ked Sea. Its European name is Palnia Kcsa 
oil or Geranium oil. 
The oil is chiefly u.'ed as an adulterant for attar 
of roses. In some places the ro)-es are sprinkled 
with it and the a^tor is distilled. It is a proved 
fact, that "Eusha" grass oil does not solidity 
by cold, and this is the chief adulterant v liich 
stops the crystalizing habit of rose oil when 
exposed to low temperature and prevents its 
congealing. 
Kusha grass oil should be first refined before 
it is ready for admixture with attar of roses. 
It is also necessary that it should lose its pene- 
trating aromatic s-mell and acquire the colour of 
the attar of roses. In order to efi'ect this change 
it is shaken with water, then acidulated with 
the juice of lemon, and finally exposed to the 
sun and air. The oil thus refined has a very slight 
difference from attar of roses, and can serve as 
an admixture which is very difficult to detect. 
It is very difficult in these days to procuie pure 
Kusha grass oil, as the oil of commerce is more or 
less adulterated by the local distillers ihem- 
selves. The chief substances to adulterate this 
are turpentine and the oils of ground nut, linseed- 
rape, &c., &c. Bj such adulteration the oil tem' 
porarily become turbid, hut after a time it set- 
tles again and becomes clear. Pure oil should 
be of a pale sherry colour. 
The oil, which is considered to be cooling and 
astringent, is used as a liniment in rheumatism, 
headache and skin diseases and has the pro- 
perty of curing baldness. It is a powerful stimu- 
lant when applied externally, but it is never 
taken internally, except in very minute doses 
for bilious affections. The grass, as far as I know, 
is not used as a fodder for cattle. 
The grass generally flowers in October 
and November, and is then fit for cutting. It is 
tied into small bundles not exceeding twelve 
inches in circumference, and packed tight, hori- 
zontally, in a large metal cauldron, which is fitted 
on a rough masonry furnace, and then a sinall 
.quantity of water is added. When full a roughly 
scooped-out wooded lid is pnt and sealed 
with a plaster of ground pulse, or the lid is more 
firmly fixed by means of metal clamps. Through 
a hole in the lid one end of a hollow bamboo is 
inserted and the other end passed into a small 
metal vessel, which is securely fixed under water 
in the bed of the river. This smaller vessel serves 
as a condenser, and the bamboo tube in it is kept 
in position by pieces of cotton cloth well wrapped 
round the tube and serving as a stopper for the 
condenser. The furnace is then heated and the 
vapour passing through the hollow bamboo tube 
is deposited as oil in the condenser. The oil thus 
