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H. R. H. THE PRINCE OF WALES’ SHOOTS IN INDIA 
IN 1921 AND 1922.— Part I. 
By \ 
BERNARD C. ELLISON, C.M.Z.S' — {Naturalist to the Shoots.) 
{With Q plates and a map.) 
Nepal. 
To the average Englishman in India, but little is known of Nepal or its people. 
Brian Hodgson, to whom we are indebted for most of what we know of the 
Natural History of the country, gives an account of the physical characters of 
Nep>al dividing it into 3 distinct regions according to the elevation of the several 
districts. The lower region consists of the Terai, or Marshes ; the Bhawar or 
forest and the lower hills, with a climate approximating that of the plains of 
Hindustan, with a certain increase of heat and a great excess of moisture. Next 
comes the Central region composed of a “ clusterous succession of mountains ” 
varying in elevation from 3,000 — 13,000 feet, with a temperature of 10® to 20° 
lower than the plains ; and, lastly, the juxta-Himalayan region consisting 
entirely of high mountains whose summits are buried in snow for the most part 
of the year and whose climate has nothing tropical about it except perhaps 
the succession of seasons. Before describing the arrival of H. R. H. and staff in 
Nepal on the 14th December and the sport subsequently enjoyed by the party, it 
is necessary to explain shortly the arrangements made by H. H. the Maharaja 
of Nepal to take the utmost advantage of the extraordinary sporting re- 
sources of his country. General Kaiser Shumsher Jung Bahadur, President of 
the Nepalese Committee relating to the Prince's visit and also officer-in-charge 
of the arrangements of the shoot, in a letter, says : — 
“ It was only in July (1921) that definite news of the Prince’s visit to India 
being available, the question of H. R. H. having a shoot in Nepal was raised. 
The Prime Minister of Nepal had pressed the Government of India to arrange 
the dates of the Royal Shoot to fall in January, or better still in February, so 
that a better bag of big game might be anticipated, but in view of the 
extended tour in India and the Far East, the 14th and 21st December were 
given as the only possible dates. The Prince’s stay in Nepal was, therefore, 
shorter than those of his father and grandfather. 
In 1910 previous notice of more than a year had been received enabhng 
the men to work for two seasons, i. e., on either side of the rainy season 
to erect 2 shooting boxes and camps in the interior of Chitone for the use of 
H. I. M. the King-Emperor in 1911. The short notice on the present 
occasion compelled the Prime Minister to abandon the idea of a shoot in 
Chitone and consequently Pathenghetta off Bairagnia was suggested, but 
considering the poorness of game that side, a camp at Thon, the gate of 
Chitone, was finally decided upon.” 
The venue for the Royal Shoot was the Terai which may be classed 
amongst the richest and most strictly preserved game tracts in the world. The 
shooting camp prepared for the Prince was about 2 miles from Bikna Thori 
Station on the Nepal Border. It was not the same camp which was used on the 
occasion when H. M. King George visited Nepal. His Majesty’s camp was 
about thirty miles away from the frontier, at a place called Kasra, where a per- 
manent pavilion was built for the use of His Majesty. The present camp had no 
wooden pavilion, but nevertheless it presented a most delightful spectacle being a 
mass of creamy white tents shaded by giant forest trees, flanked by and over- 
looking the river : beyond the river lay a great tract of forest land, and still 
further in the distance the snow capped peaks of the Himalayas. On all the 
other sides jungle of the thickest kind and then the Indian frontier. 
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