Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057352).pdf/355

 SIT 347 reason of this is apparent. The inundations caused by the overflow of rivers during the rains cause tracts of land to be covered with grass, where a great deal of sand is deposited by the floods a very coarse description of grass springs up, and on low lying lands where inundated by rivers whose source is in the plains, the grass is generally the kind used for thatching purposes by the natives. In the Sitapur district, therefore, níl-gáe, pig, párha, and antelope will be found in the greatest numbers in the waste lands lying along the banks of the rivers Gumti, Chaukn, and Gogra. A few swamp deer are also to be found in the eastern parts of the district. The antelope being the most numerous of all the fauna in this district, is deserving of mention first. The black buel, the male of an antelope, is so well known in India that any lengthy description of him would be out of place here. Antelope are found more or less all over the district, but in greatest numbers on high and low ground running along the banks of the river Gumti, where they may be seen in herds of some 30 and 30 does to one black buck. The young bucks are not allowed to remain in the company of the does, and generally herd together in small parties. Directly the black buck of a herd is shot, another takes his place. Should an outsider approach a herd before the master buck has been shot a fight instantly takes place, and at this time they can be easily approached and shot. At other times the does keep a watchful look out, one in a herd always remaining standing, and on the first approach of danger a grunt or two is given and all begin to stand up; at this time the only way to kill the buck is to circle him; if the circling is properly performed the buck will be under the delusion that you are walkiug away from him. This plan is however only followed by European sportsmen, the exertion being usually too great for natives. A shot can then be generally got at about 120 or 150 yards, and the shot should always be delivered standing. Natives shoot and kill them in a variety of ways, the most common being that of shooting with a trained bullock. The bullock is driven with a rope passed through his nostrils, and the shikári walks alongside of the bal- lock. When near enough, say some 50 yards, the bullock is checked and the shikári shoots either behind or underneath the stomach of the bullock; another very common way is for the shikari to dig a pit in the middle of the grass plains inhabited by the antelope, just deep enough to conceal the shikári sitting down, the top of the pit is left quite flush with the ground. This is a very tedious way of shooting them, and can only be fol- lowed by natives who wait patiently for hours before getting a shot; when however they do get one they are certain to kill as they shoot at very short distances, and rest their gun on the edge of the pit. A class of men called Bahelia come frequently from the neighbourhood of Gwalior, and are very skilful in catching antelope by the legs with nooses. Pegs are driven into the ground in a line often some 200 yards long and at distances of two or three feet apart. To these pegs are attached nooses, and these are fastened to the grass so as to raise them a few inches of the ground, as soon as a herd of deer is seen in the vicinity of the place; the shikúris gently drive them towards the line of nooses. Two or three of the deer generally manage to get their legs into the nooses, and the shikáris running up des- patch them with their clubs and knives. Antelope are very destructive to young crops, and as they feed by night their depredations are very