Page:Records of Sport in Southern India.pdf/46

Rh striking him, but they laughed at me and joked me about broken legs, hitting a stone, and other such chaff; and as the antelope "chulled" so well, I fully concluded that I had made a miss. I managed to get within shot of him again ; but I had my doubts as to the result as I thought I saw the ball strike the ground; however, he soon laid down, and then I knew he must have got it rather hot. When within a hundred yards or so he got up, and I then saw some blood on one of his forelegs. I had with me two capital dogs, Noble and Judy, crosses between the arab and the english greyhound with just enough of the poligar blood to give them courage, so I slipped them and away they went. The pace soon began to tell on the buck, and Noble seized him by the haunch, the antelope managed to throw him off, but the dog again got up to him and laid hold of his neck and pulled him over. I found that I had struck him with both my shots, the second one having gone through his lungs. I was at least two hundred and fifty yards away when I fired the first shot. The run with the dogs, before they pulled the buck down, was fully three quarters of a mile, so this time I came home koosh. I went on persevering, taking more pains and not firing till within a proper distance, and soon became a better and steadier shot, and the good-humoured chaff ceased.

As I have previously stated, these animals were at times so wild that it was often almost impossible to get within rifle shot. I soon found that the best mode of proceeding was by stalking them from behind my pony, making the syce move slowly on; even then it was no easy work and often required a long trudge, sometimes of many miles, before I could get within shot; I always made my syce or horse-keeper carry a hog-spear, and when I was lucky enough to cripple a black