334 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP. 
knife, and, giving them a cheer, I went into the 
rapid stream. 
“ Immediately the stag broke his bay, and, 
rushing through the jungle, he was closely followed 
by the pack, until he again came to bay about a 
quarter of a mile lower down the river. I was soon 
up, and I found he had gained an impregnable 
position in a broad portion of the river, where the 
water was about 3 feet deep ; this was just above a 
frightful waterfall about 100 feet in depth. On one 
side of the river the banks were precipitous, and 
about 12 feet high. Beneath this steep place of 
refuge the stag was standing, and for about ten 
minutes he amused himself by striking the dogs 
beneath the water in every direction, whenever they 
ventured to approach by swimming. 
“ I saw there was no chance for the unfortunate 
dogs ; I therefore determined to try my fortune with 
the knife. 
“From the high bank above the deer I noticed 
an overhanging branch which I thought would be 
sufficiently elastic to bear my weight. I accordingly 
grasped this with my left hand, and with my knife 
in my right I made a jump downward, intending to 
strike the stag between the shoulders, and then to 
regain my position by means of the elastic bough. 
I made the attempt; the bough broke, in an 
instant I was on the deer’s back, and in another 
moment fell sprawling in the water. 
“The stag sprang away as though stung 
by a hornet, but the knife had entered to the 
