836 
THE  MUSK-DEER. 
to  see  them  suck,  all  the  while  they  keep  leaping  up  and  crossing 
their  fore  legs  rapidly  over  each  other.  They  are  rather  difficult 
to  rear,  as  many,  soon  after  they  are  caught,  go  blind  and  die. 
In  most  of  the  hill-states  the  musk-deer  is  considered  as  royal 
property.  In  some,  the  Rajahs  keep  men  purposely  to  hunt  it ; 
and  in  Gurwhal  a  fine  is  imposed  upon  any  Puharrie  who  is  known 
to  have  sold  a  musk  pod  to  a  stranger — the  Rajah  receiving  them 
in  lieu  of  rent. 
In  some  districts  they  are  hunted  down  with  dogs,  hut  snaring 
is  by  far  the  most  common  method  practised  for  their  capture. 
A  few  are  occasionally  shot  by  the  village  shikaries  when  in  pur- 
suit of  other  animals,  but  the  matchlock  is  seldom  taken  out 
purposely  to  hunt  musk-deer,  for  a  hill  shikarie  does  not  carry 
the  match  lighted,  and  the  deer  being  generally  come  upon  face 
to  face,  almost  every  one  would  get  away  before  he  could  strike 
a  light  and  apply  it  to  the  match.    In  snaring,  a  fence  about 
three  feet  high,  composed  of  bushes  and  branches  of  trees,  is 
made  in  the  forest,  generally  along  some  ridges,  and  often  up- 
wards of  a  mile  in  length.    Openings  for  the  deer  to  pass  through 
are  left  every  ten  or  fifteen  yards,  and  in  each  a  strong  hempen 
snare  is  placed,  tied  to  a  long  stick,  the  thick  end  of  which  is 
firmly  fixed  in  the  ground,  and  the  smaller,  to  which  the  snare  is 
fastened,  bent  forwards  to  the  opening,  so  that  the  deer,  when 
passing  through,  treads  upon  some  small  sticks  which  hold  it 
down,  the  catch  is  set  free,  the  stick  springs  back  and  tightens 
the  snare  round  the  animal's  leg.    Besides  the  musk-deer,  num- 
bers of  the  forest  pheasants,  moonals,  corklass,  and  argus  are 
caught  in  these  snares  ;  they  are  visited  every  third  or  fourth 
day,  and  it  is  seldom  that  the  owners  return  without  something  or 
other.    The  polecats  often  find  out  the  snares,  and  after  once 
tasting  the  feast,  if  not  destroyed  soon,  become  a  terrible  annoy- 
ance, tracing  the  fence  almost  daily  from  end  to  end,  and  seizing 
on  everything  caught;  they  are  often  caught  themselves,  but 
immediately  bite  the  snare  in  two  and  escape.    Musk-deer  are 
frequently  lost  to  the  snarers  in  this  manner,  for  when  one  is 
eaten  by  the  polecats  the  pod  is  torn  to  pieces,  and  the  contents 
scattered  on  the  ground.    No  animal  swallows  the  musk,  and 
when  a  deer  has  been  killed  and  eaten  by  a  leopard  or  other 
animal,  if  the  ground  be  carefully  examined,  much  of  the  musk 
