Chapter XI: Indian Shooting (5)

Among the larger ranges of hills in Southern India, the best way of hunting is to send men in pairs before daybreak to well-chosen positions to watch the forest, the sportsman with one attendant taking a line of his own, and working on or watching his particular beat till the sun is beginning to get powerful and the animals have lain down for the day; then he should himself go round the different groups of watchers and collect their reports. It is important that the sportsman should go round himself and not depute the work to his shikari, as a stag or a bear may often have been marked down to an inch by the watchers and may be stalked forthwith, whilst if a drive be decided upon the sportsman has an opportunity of studying the ground and settling all the details with his head shikari on the spot. Having gone round his sentries and withdrawn the men, he should then return to camp for breakfast, order beaters for any drives he has decided on, and about 11 A.M., when the sun is really hot and the animals marked down are likely to be disinclined to move, and so enable the beaters and guns to get into position, he should begin operations. All driving should be done in the heat of the day, when the animals are lying down; trying to drive when beasts are naturally on the move generally results in the game leaving the beat before the men are in their places. Another great point to attend to in driving is for the sportsman, if possible, to get up into a tree. It may sound ridiculous for a man to climb up a tree in a sambur drive, but he is far more likely to get an easy shot in this position, as the deer will neither see nor wind him, he commands more ground, and he runs no risk of heading back the wary old hind which often leads the herd; the chances being that if he is rightly posted the herd will come right under his tree. Another advantage is that, his fire being plunging, he can shoot all round without danger to the beaters. If two or three guns are out, it is more than ever necessary to try to post them well up off the ground. Having settled himself in his tree, the sportsman should send his gun-carrier to some tree or rock at least a hundred yards behind him, so that the course taken by a wounded animal can be observed. Tracking in jungle is often very difficult work, and a sharp gun-carrier posted well to the rear will often save a lot of trouble. In some parts of the Himalayas native shikaris declare that they often shoot sambur by selecting a likely path and improvising a salt-lick, after the fashion of Laplanders when they want to catch their tame reindeer. General Macintyre describes the formation of a ‘kar’ and his adventures in watching one; he calls it a dirty way of killing ‘jurrow.’

Though sambur occasionally throw out abnormal tines, they usually carry only three antlers on each horn--a long brow antler and two on top. The horns are generally shed about the end of March, and are free from velvet about the beginning of November. Major Ward’s remarks about shooting small stags are well worth quoting:

Remember that sambur are not prolific; they seldom have more
than one fawn, and that it is four years before the young stag
assumes his complete shape of horn, and that he has still three
or four years to live before he can have a pair of antlers worth
preserving. He has quite sufficient chances against his attaining
an age of seven or eight years, without having to run the risk of
being shot down by the rifle bullet whilst still in his immature
state.

Shooting hinds is quite unpardonable, the venison being not worth eating.

XXIII. HOGDEER (_Axis porcinus_)

_Native name: generally ‘Para’_

Kinloch aptly describes this deer as the rabbit of Indian battues. It is a long-bodied rather heavily built beast on short legs with horns like a small sambur, the brow antlers coming straight up from the burr at an acute angle without the handsome curve of those of the spotted deer. The stags are reddish brown, their hair coarse and thick, their tails rather long and exactly of the sambur type, their ears round, not pointed like a spotted deer. When galloping through the grass the hogdeer carries its head low, its horns laid back on the neck, and its rump high. It is found throughout the high grass swamps at the foot of the Himalayas and on the islands and banks of the big rivers. High grass and plenty of water are its chief requisites. It expends through Assam to Burmah, and is also found in Ceylon.

It is usually shot when beating the large tracts of grass in the Doon and Terai with a line of elephants, and affords pretty snap shooting from a howdah when better game is not expected. The does will squat in the grass till the elephants almost kick them up, but the way to get the best stags is to go well ahead of the line on a flank, or, if possible, post yourself on foot so as to command a nullah leading from one patch of grass to another, or the dry sandy channel separating two islands. This, however, is a matter of some risk, as, if hogdeer are plentiful, the firing from the line becomes fast and furious, and unless you are on an elephant the guns in the line cannot see where you are. Shooting from a howdah is an art which requires practice, and many a good rifle-shot on foot finds himself missing hideously when he first tries shooting off an elephant. A very sound rule is, never to put your head down on the stock, but keep it well up, look hard at the beast’s shoulder and see as much of its body as possible over the muzzle of the rifle: the range is generally short and nearly all misses go high. Shooting hogdeer from elephant has been likened, with some confusion of ideas, to shooting rabbits from a pitching collier in a gale of wind in the Bay of Biscay.

Hogdeer are often put up when pigsticking in grass, and give capital runs.

Major FitzHerbert had a quaint bit of sport in 1874. He slipped a brace of dogs at a stag and rode after them; in his own words:

The stag made for the river, and as the ground got more and more
open the bitch caught sight of him, made a rush and soon got up
to him; she laid hold and pulled him over, but as the dog would
not help her, the stag shook her off and went away again. When
she came up to him again, he stood at bay with head down and
bristles raised like a miniature red deer of Landseer’s, but
broke away when I came up. Once he charged the bitch and knocked
her over: he stood at bay two or three times, but I never could
get a spear into him for fear of hurting the dogs; at last one
time as he was breaking bay I came up, and he charged me with
such force as to break one of his horns clean off against the
spear; however, I stuck him in the spine and rolled him over.

The fawns are always spotted. The stags seem very irregular in shedding their horns, and deformed heads are not uncommon.

XXIV. SPOTTED DEER (_Axis maculatus_)

_Native names: ‘Chital,’ ‘Chitra’; the Stag ‘Jhank’_

About the beauty of the skin of this beast, the writer heard a story of a man who was taking such particular pains to preserve the hide of a stag he had shot that his companion asked him what he wanted it for, adding, ‘It’s only a chital.’ ‘Yes,’ returned the other, ‘it may be only a chital on the banks of the Nerbudda, but I am going to send it home, and it will be a leopard at Northampton.’

The horns are of the rusine type, but the brow antler has a more graceful forward curve than in the sambur, and the anterior terminal point is always longer than the posterior. Small false points are also frequently thrown out at the base of the brow antler.

Chital are often shot off elephants, but the sport is not to be compared to stalking them; and as chital always seem to select the loveliest scenery in the forest for their abode, a morning or evening stroll after them is most enjoyable, or, if the heat is too great to render a long walk pleasant, a shot may often be obtained in the evening by watching a glade where the young grass is springing up after a forest fire. There must, however, be water in the vicinity, as chital are rarely found at any great distance from it.

The peculiar call of the chital can be heard for a long distance, and is a common hunting signal among many jungle tribes. If a chital is heard repeatedly calling in one spot, it is generally a danger signal, and means that a tiger or panther is on foot.

Unlike hogdeer, chital often go in large herds, each herd being owned by one big stag, though there may be many smaller stags in it.

The horns are shed annually but very irregularly, stags without horns, in the velvet, and with matured horns, being often met with in the same day. This is attributable to the deer breeding all the year round instead of having a definite rutting season, the shedding of horns varying with the age of the stag. This is more noticeable in the forests along the foot of the Himalayas than in Central India, where, though still irregular, the bulk of the stags have their horns ripe in January and shed them about July.

Jerdon was of opinion that there were two species of spotted deer, the smaller of the two being found in Southern India; but Sterndale quotes McMaster to the effect that the spotted deer found in Orissa are more than usually large. As far as the writer has been able to judge, the stags in Central India have finer heads than those in the Doon and Terai.

When stalking in forest the sportsman should bear in mind that if he comes suddenly on game his best chance of avoiding detection is to stand motionless. If he attempts to crouch the movement will draw attention at once, whereas if he stands still, and his clothes are of the right colour, he may very likely be mistaken for the stump of a tree.

XXV. SWAMP DEER (_Rucervus Duvaucelli_)

_Native names: ‘Gōn,’ ‘Gond,’ ‘Barasingha,’ ‘Maha’; in Central India, ‘Goen’ or ‘Goenjak’ (male); ‘Gaoni’ (female) (Sterndale)_

This deer avoids heavy forest and is nearly always found in the swamps and open grassy plains near rivers. Colonel Erskine, the Commissioner of Kumaon, writes of it:

I have shot numbers of these deer, but all in the swampy Terai
country in the north of Oudh bordering on Nepal, and in that part
of the Pilibhit district on the same frontier. I have never heard
of it much to the west of the Pilibhit district. I should think
Haldwani, at the foot of the Naini Tal hill, was well beyond the
western limit of the tracts which it frequents; it is found in
the swamps and high grass on the edges of the swamps and rivers,
and on the islands in the rivers, along the forest country at
the foot of the Himalayas, from the places I have mentioned,
eastwards as far as Assam and Bhotan, and along the Barhamputra
river down to the Sunderbands of Bengal. It is also known in the
Central Provinces near Mundla and along the tributaries of the
Nerbudda.

Kinloch says that it used to be found on the islands in the Indus, but is now almost extinct there. By all accounts it seems to prefer the neighbourhood of Sál forest.

The antlers of the swamp deer are peculiar. The beam is rather slender, the brow antler very long, there is no median tine, and at the top the head becomes almost palmated. The full-grown stag carries three antlers on the top, two of which (the outside antlers generally) are bifurcated equally, as if the antler had been split and bent outwards; each horn having thus six points, including the brow antler. Colonel Erskine says that he has never seen a head with more than fourteen tines, but Jerdon speaks of seventeen. In Schomburgk’s deer (an allied form found in Siam), all three prongs on the top are bifurcated. The difference between the two varieties is very noticeable in the British Museum, where the horns are placed side by side. Sterndale says that in Schomburgk’s deer the très and royal tines are equal, whilst in the swamp deer the très tine is longer than the royal.

In the high grass of the Terai and Assam, swamp deer are generally shot off elephants, but in some parts of Central India the ground is open enough to permit of their being stalked. Forsyth gives a capital account of the sport he enjoyed while hunting them in the Sál forests of Central India. Swamp deer are gregarious, and Jerdon quotes from an article in ‘The Indian Sporting Review’ a case of three large herds being seen on one plain. The general colour of the beast is a light yellowish red, paler in the winter than in the summer; the under parts and below the tail are white. The hinds are lighter coloured than the stags, and the fawns are spotted. The stags appear to shed their horns about March or April, as, Forsyth says, they lose the velvet at the close of the rainy season; he also says that they shed their horns more regularly than the _Rusinæ_. The following quotation from his charming book gives an excellent account of their habits:

This animal has been called in North-Eastern India the ‘swamp
deer,’ but here (Central India) he is not observed to be
particularly partial to swampy ground. These deer graze in
the mornings and evenings in the open valley, chiefly along
the smaller streams, and by springs where the grass is green,
and rest during the day about the skirts of the Sál forest. A
favourite midday resort is in the shade of the clumps of Sál
dotted about the open plain, at some distance from the heavy
forest. They are not nearly so nocturnal in habits as the sámbar,
being often found out grazing late in the forenoon, and again
early in the afternoon; and I do not think they wander about all
night like the sámbar. Their midday rest is usually of a few
hours only, but during that time they conceal themselves in the
grass much after the manner of the sámbar. I have never heard of
their visiting cultivated tracts like the latter; nor can I learn
that their apparent adherence to the Sál forest is due to their
employing any part of that tree as food.

XXVI. BROW-ANTLERED OR ELD’S DEER (_Rucervus_ vel _Panolia Eldii_)

_Native names_: ‘_Thamin_,’ ‘_Sungrai_’

This variety of swamp deer is found chiefly in Burmah, but extends from Munipur to the Malay Peninsula. Its habits are, as above noted, the same as those of the swamp deer, but it is rather differently coloured, being, according to Sterndale, ‘of a light rufous brown with a few faint indications of white spots, the under parts and insides of the ears nearly white, the tail short and black above. It is said to become darker in winter instead of lighter, as in the swamp deer.’

The horns, however, are very unlike the swamp deer’s. The brow antler and beam, instead of forming an angle, are in one continuous curve, like the section of a circle, the burr being small and hardly seen. In rear of the top of the beam there is a short snag, which Sterndale calls the royal tine, and on the front of the top of the beam, which is rather flattened, instead of regular tines like those on a swamp deer’s head, there is a collection of what look like false points. In a head in the British Museum the left horn has thirteen of these little snags and the right fourteen.

In Upper Burmah, Eld’s deer are scarce, and the only way to obtain them is to drive for them with beaters. In Lower Burmah they are occasionally shot by lamplight, much in the same manner as that described in Colonel Rice’s book; the performance is said to be very interesting. The party (which usually consists of a lamp-bearer, a man with an arrangement of jingling bells and rings on a stick, the sportsman and his gun-carriers) having assembled after dark, a fire is lit, and a kind of incantation gone through, everyone but the speaker being forbidden to utter a word. When the incantation is over, each member of the party passes through the smoke of the fire in turn, the guns are handed through it also, the lamp is then lit, and the party starts, using the lamp, an earthenware pot with a hole in its side, as a search light, while the man with the frame of bells keeps up an incessant jingling. On a deer being discovered, the light is at once turned full on its eyes and kept steadily there, the jingling kept going, with the result that the deer is so dazed that it will often allow the party to go close up to it before the sportsman fires. Both Eld’s deer and sambur may be shot in this way, and the writer has been told that hares, and occasionally deer, will allow themselves to be approached till they can be speared or knocked on the head with sticks. This, of course, is not a very high class of sport, but in many of the coast districts stalking in the jungles is almost impossible.

_Measurements_

+-----------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+
| |Height|Total |Weight|Length|Length|Girth |Girth|Girth|Girth|
|Authority | at |length| as | of |of |above |above| of | of |
| |shoul-| | shot | horn |brow |brow |burr |burr |beam |
| |der | | | |antler|antler| | |mid- |
| | | | | | | | | |way |
| +------+------+------+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+
| | Remarks |
+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| | RUSA ARISTOTELIS |
| | ins. | ins. | lbs. | ins. | ins. | ins. | ins.| ins.|ins. |
|Mr. A. O. }| .. | .. | .. | 46½ | .. | 6⅜ | .. | .. | .. |
| Hume }| Rowland Ward, ‘Horn Measurements’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Dr. }| .. | .. | .. | 45⅛ | .. | 6⅝ | .. | .. | .. |
| Falconer,}| ” ” ” |
| British }| | | | | | | | | |
| Museum }| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|‘The }| .. | .. | .. | 45, | .. | .. | .. | 11 | 7½ |
| Field,’ }| | | | 44 | | | | | |
| Dec. 22, }| Weight of horns, without skull, 20 lbs. |
| 1866 }| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Sir J. }| .. | .. | .. | 45 | .. | 7⅜ | .. | .. | .. |
| Morris, }| Rowland Ward, ‘Horn Measurements’ |
| K.C.S.I.}| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Maj.-Gen. }| .. | .. | .. | 45 | .. | 7¼ | .. | .. | .. |
| A. Ellis,}| Rowland Ward, ‘Horn Measurements’ |
| C.S.I. }| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Sterndale’s|} .. | .. | .. | 45, | 18¼ | .. | 9 | .. | 7¼ |
| ‘Mammalia’|} | | | 43 | | | | | |
| | Has an abnormal snag 9 ins. long on right horn |
| | below the très tine |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Sterndale’s|} 56 |72 to | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| ‘Mammalia’|} | 78 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|British }| .. | .. | .. | 44½ | .. | 7 | .. | .. | .. |
|Museum }| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Col. W. J.}| .. | .. | .. | 44⅛ | .. | 7⅞ | .. | .. | .. |
|Morris }| Rowland Ward, ‘Horn Measurements’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Major Ward | 53 | .. | .. | 44 | .. | 9 | .. | .. | .. |
| | ‘Sportsman’s Guide to Ladak, &c.’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. J. D. }| .. | .. | .. | 44 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Inverarity}| Rowland Ward, ‘Horn Measurements’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|The Earl }| .. | .. | .. |{R 35}|{R 14½|} 7½ | .. | .. | .. |
|of Ducie }| | | |{L 33}|{L 13 |} | | | |
| | A peculiar head with abnormal snags at the back of each |
| | beam. Terminal points: R. 11, L. 12½. Abnormal snags: |
| | R. 9¼, L. 13. Girth of snags: R. 5½, L. 7½. |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|The }| .. | .. | 717 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Maharahjah}| | | | | | | | | |
|of Kooch }| | | | | | | | | |
|Behar, }| | | | | | | | | |
|Letter to }| | | | | | | | | |
|‘The Asian’| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|C.A.S.W., }| 44 | .. | 561 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|‘The }| | | | | | | | | |
|Field,’ }| | | | | | | | | |
|Oct. 25, }| | | | | | | | | |
|1890 }| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Sir S. }| 54 | .. |about | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Baker, }| | | 600 | | | | | | |
|‘Wild }| | | | | | | | | |
|Beasts and}| | | | | | | | | |
|their }| | | | | | | | | |
|Ways’ }| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Average of}| .. | .. | .. | 38 | .. | 7 | .. | .. | .. |
|good head }| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| AXIS PORCINUS |
|Major Ward}| .. | .. | .. | 21 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|quotes }| ‘Sportsman’s Guide to Ladak, &c.’ |
|a head }| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. A. O. }| .. | .. | .. | 19¼ | .. | 3⅛ | .. | .. | .. |
| Hume }| Rowland Ward, ‘Horn Measurements’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Sir V. }| .. | .. | .. | 19⅛ | .. | 3¼ | .. | .. | .. |
|Brooke }| ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. H. C. }| .. | .. | .. | 19⅛ | .. | 3⅜ | .. | .. | .. |
|V. Hunter }| ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Major |} 27 | 48 | 96 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|FitzHerbert|} | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” | .. | .. | 96 | 16¾ | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” | 25¾ | .. | 98 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” | 25½ | 51 | 93 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” | 25 | 52½ | 96 | 12 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Major }| 28 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Greenaway }| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” | 24½ | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Sterndale’s|}27 to|50 to | .. |15 to | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|‘Mammalia’ |} 28 | 52 | | 16 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Average of}| .. | .. | .. | 16 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|good head }| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| AXIS MACULATUS |
|Forsyth, }| .. | .. | .. | 38 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|‘Highlands}| | | | | | | | | |
|of Central}| | | | | | | | | |
|India’ }| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. A. O. }| .. | .. | .. | 37½ | .. | 4½ | .. | .. | .. |
|Hume }| Rowland Ward, ‘Horn Measurements’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” | .. | .. | .. | 37⅜ | .. | 4 | .. | .. | .. |
| | ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Sir V. }| .. | .. | .. | 37¼ | .. | 4¼ | .. | .. | .. |
|Brooke }| ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Gen. }| .. | .. | .. | 37 | .. | 4 | .. | .. | .. |
|Macintyre }| ‘Hindu Koh’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. W. C. }| .. | .. | .. | 36¾ | .. | 4⅜ | .. | .. | .. |
|Oswell }| Rowland Ward, ‘Horn Measurements’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. C. H. }| .. | .. | .. | 36½ | .. | 4½ | .. | .. | .. |
|Seeley }| ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|British }| .. | .. | .. | 36 | .. | 4¼ | .. | .. | .. |
|Museum }| ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Capt. V. }| .. | .. | .. | 36 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Couper }| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Major |} 35¾ | 70¼ | .. | 32½ | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|FitzHerbert|} | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” (a hind)| 28 | 58 | 86 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Major }| 37 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Greenaway }| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Sterndale’s|36 to |54 to | .. Average .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|‘Mammalia’ | 38 | 60 | | 30 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Average of}| .. | .. | .. | 30 | .. | 4 | .. | .. | .. |
|good head }| | | | | | | | | |
+-----------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+

+-------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-----+---------+
| |Height|Total |Weight|Length|Length|Girth |Girth| Points |
|Authority | at |length| as | of |of |above |above| |
| |shoul-| | shot | horn |brow |brow |burr | |
| |der | | | |antler|antler| | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| +------+------+------+------+------+------+-----+---------+
| | Remarks |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| | RUCERVUS DUVAUCELLI |
| | ins. | ins. | lbs. | ins. | ins. | ins. | ins.| |
|Major C. S. }| .. | .. | .. | 41 | 5½ | .. | .. | 6×6 |
|Cumberland }| Rowland Ward, ‘Horn Measurements’ |
| | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” | .. | .. | .. | 39¼ | 5 | .. | .. | 5×6 |
| | ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Sir E. G. }| .. | .. | .. | 37⅜ | 5¼ | .. | .. | 7×6 |
|Loder, Bart.}| ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Col. Erskine |about | .. | .. | 37 | 7 | 14 | .. | 7×7 |
| | 45 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Major Ward | .. | .. | .. | 36½ | 5 | .. | .. | .. |
| | ‘Sportsman’s Guide to Ladak, &c.’ |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. B. }| .. | .. | .. | 36 | 5 | .. | .. | 6×5 |
|Hodgson }| Rowland Ward, ‘Horn Measurements’ |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Sir V. Brooke| .. | .. | .. | 35⅜ | 4⅞ | .. | .. | .. |
| | ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. H. C. V.}| .. | .. | .. | 35¼ | 5¾ | .. | .. | 7×6 |
|Hunter }| ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Major C. S. }| .. | .. | .. | 34¾ | 5⅝ | .. | .. | 5×5 |
| Cumberland }| ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
|British }| .. | .. | .. | 34 | 5½ | .. | .. | 5×5 |
|Museum }| Head No. 694 A. |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Major C. S. }| .. | .. | .. | 33½ | 4¾ | .. | .. | 5×5 |
| Cumberland }| Rowland Ward, ‘Horn Measurements’ |
| | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” | .. | .. | .. | 33⅛ | 5½ | .. | .. | 5×5 |
| | ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Rowland Ward | .. | .. |about | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | | | 560 | | | | | |
| | ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Forsyth | .. | .. | .. | 33½ | .. | .. | .. | 6×6 |
| | ‘Highlands of Central India’ |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Major }| 49 | 82 | .. | 30 | .. | 10⅜ | .. | .. |
|FitzHerbert }| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” | 47 | 81 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Sterndale’s }|44 to | .. | .. |about | .. | .. | .. |12 to 14 |
| ‘Mammalia’ }| 46 | | | 36 | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Average of }| .. | .. | .. | 30 | 5 | .. | .. | 6×6 |
|good head }| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| RUCERVUS SCHOMBURGKII |
|British }| .. | .. | .. | 30⅛ | 5 | .. | .. | 10×10 |
|Museum }| Rowland Ward, ‘Horn Measurements’ |
| | | | | | | | | |
| ” | .. | .. | .. | 29⅞ | 5⅛ | .. | .. | 9×8 |
| | ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
| ” | .. | .. | .. | 29¾ | 4¾ | .. | .. | 10×11 |
| | ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
| ” | .. | .. | .. | 28¾ | 5½ | .. | .. | 8×8 |
| | Head No. 1463 A. |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Sir V. Brooke| .. | .. | .. | 28½ | 5¼ | .. | .. | 11×9 |
| | Rowland Ward, ‘Horn Measurements’ |
| | | | | | | | | |
|British }| .. | .. | .. | 27⅞ | 5⅜ | .. | .. | 9×8 |
|Museum }| ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
| ” | .. | .. | .. | 27¾ | 4⅜ | .. | .. | 7×8 |
| | ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
| PANOLIA ELDII |
|Sir E. G. }| .. | .. | .. | 39⅝ | 5 | .. | .. | 20 |
|Loder, Bart.}| Rowland Ward, ‘Horn Measurements’ |
| | | | | | | | | |
|British }| .. | .. | .. | 38⅞ | 6¼ | .. | .. | 16×19 |
|Museum }| ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
| ” | .. | .. | .. | 37½ | 5⅜ | .. | .. | 5×5 |
| | ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Rowland Ward | .. | .. | .. | 37 | 6⅛ | 10½ | .. | .. |
| | ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. A. O. }| .. | .. | .. | 36⅛ | 5½ | .. | .. | 4×3 |
|Hume }| ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
|British }| .. | .. | .. | 35¾ | 5⅜ | .. | .. | 4×5 |
|Museum }| ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Hume }| .. | .. | .. | 34⅞ | 5½ | .. | .. | 6×6 |
|Collection, }| | | | | | | | |
|British }| ” ” ” |
|Museum }| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. A. O. }| .. | .. | .. | 34⅝ | 6⅛ | .. | .. | 5×6 |
|Hume }| ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Hon. W. }| .. | .. | .. | 34⅛ | 5 | .. | .. | 6×6 |
|Rothschild }| ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. J. Carr }| .. | .. | .. | 34 | 5⅞ | .. | .. | 10×10 |
|Saunders }| ” ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | |
+-------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-----+---------+

The horns of Eld’s deer are very difficult to measure in the ordinary way, owing to the extreme smallness of the burr, the back of the beam in good specimens touching the skull, and because the brow antler does not form an angle with the beam, but is simply a prolongation of the curve of the horn.

XXVII. THE CASHMERE STAG (_Cervus cashmirianus_)--STERNDALE, KINLOCH. (_Cervus Wallichii_)--JERDON, WARD

_Cashmere: Hangal, Barasingh_

This is the stag _par excellence_ of India. A sambur has a fine head and so has a swamp deer, but neither approaches in beauty to a barasingh. A good stag’s head is one of the trophies of the Himalayas, but unfortunately it is getting scarcer year by year. Sheep and cattle affect this deer but little, as they keep more or less to the open downs and glades; but the yearly increasing herds of buffaloes that come up from the plains to graze in Cashmere during the summer, at the very time that the stags are growing their horns, are the real mischief-makers. Buffaloes delight in plunging through dense forest, and they and their attendants will clear the deer out of any valley. Unfortunately for the sportsman, buffaloes pay for their feeding in taxes and produce, while deer do not. The best step as regards preservation that the Cashmere authorities have taken as yet is the creation of a Royal Preserve between the Sindh and Liddur rivers, and if they would only exclude buffaloes from this tract entirely it would form a real sanctuary, which would immensely improve the shooting all round. At present, by allowing buffaloes to graze on it, they are depriving it of half its value.

In spite of all drawbacks stags are still to be got, but in no quantity. Two good heads in a month’s shooting are as many as any sportsman can reasonably hope to get, and if one of those measures 40 ins., whether with ten or twelve tines, he is to be congratulated.

The general impression about barasingh seems to be that a full-grown stag always has twelve points, but this the writer believes to be entirely erroneous. I have hunted over some of the best ground in Cashmere on different occasions, and am of opinion that the number of points usually found in full-grown heads depends entirely upon the locality. The stags which do not leave the Cashmere Valley, i.e. harbour on the hills overlooking it, and those that live to the south-east, often run to twelve and sometimes more points; while the stags which harbour across the Kishengunga rarely run to more than ten points. These stags appear to develop ten points very early; the poorest head the writer ever shot was a 10-pointer. I shot a young stag with only six points once, under circumstances that gave no opportunity of previously judging its head, and it had far longer and better horns than the above-mentioned 10-pointer. Crummle and antelope heads are also rare. I once shot a very heavy old stag with a most curious antelope head, the horns having not a tine on them, and being twisted more like a markhor’s than a stag’s. The old fellow was absolute king of the valley, too, and not another stag dared answer his challenge. It was very puzzling at the time. While stalking another stag which had called once among some thick bushes but would not show, the old antelope head appeared far up the hill, sauntering leisurely down, and challenging as he came. Every deer within hearing seemed to hide from him at once. There was a small 6-point stag with a hind cowering behind some bushes about two hundred yards to my right, while the deer that he had originally started after were keeping hidden somewhere to his left, and the old chieftain was coming straight towards him, singing his war-song. Over and over again were the glasses laid on him, but nothing could be made out. The body was that of a royal, but the horns were short, with no antlers visible. Apparently he was a bad three-year-old. What did it mean? If he were a big royal the respect shown him by the other stags was intelligible enough; but why should they be afraid of a beast like that? Fairly puzzled, I crept back to look for the stag I had originally come down after, which there was every reason to believe was a 10-pointer. Not a sign of him could be seen, but while pottering about in some long grass a pair of straight horns suddenly appeared within forty yards of me. Confound this brocket! he has walked on top of me; perhaps he may just miss me! No! he comes straight on and looks me in the face. Now the brute will drive everything away, so here goes--and he drops in his tracks. A brocket? Not a bit of it; twenty years old if he’s a day, and his quaint old head is the pick of the bag.

The general colour of barasingh is much the same as that of red deer, but is rather greyer, and the white patch on the rump appears a little larger. Sterndale says it has a white circle round the eyes, but the writer has never seen anything more distinct of this kind than a ring slightly paler than the rest of the head.

The horns resemble those of the red deer, with the notable exception that with barasingh the bez antler appears to be the fighting one, and is always longer and bigger than the brow antler, while with red deer the reverse is the case. Sir Victor Brooke says its call is just like that of a wapiti, and quite different from that of a red stag. ‘In the former it is a loud squeal, ending in a more guttural tone; in the latter it is a distinct roar, resembling that of a panther.’ According to the writer’s experience, the full call is seldom heard till the rutting season is at its height. When the stags first begin roaring the call is comparatively short. Ward’s remarks on the subject are well worth quoting: ‘The noise a stag _can_ make when “roaring” is much louder than would be imagined, and can be heard at a great distance; but very often, when the animal is lying down, he only utters a prolonged moaning sound, which is very deceptive, and unless frequently repeated, it is difficult to find out the exact direction to follow.’

In the winter nearly all the barasingh are congregated in the Cashmere Valley, but though the smaller stags come down and are pretty easily found, the big ones will not leave the high ground, where it is impossible to follow them (unless they are driven down by an early fall of snow), until the young grass begins to grow in March, which is the best month to get heads, though of course the deer are then in poor condition. Ward writes about winter shooting:

If it could be done, the plan would be not to decide to enter the
valley (i.e. Cashmere) until information of a really heavy fall
in December or early in January had been obtained. The late falls
of snow do not drive the deer down. The hazel buds are swelling,
and they can graze on them; the sap is rising in various bushes
and trees, and the deer can eat the smaller twigs, but an early
fall forces the animals into the valleys.… In the spring, when
the snow is melting, is, to my idea, far the best time, and I
would sooner have from February 20 to March 20 after the stags
than all the rest of the year. They are then down on the young
green grass, and are busily devouring the crocuses.

By the end of March all the big stags and most of the smaller ones have shed their horns, and the deer collect into large herds and begin moving off to their summer quarters, those in the western corner of the valley going to the banks of the Kishengunga river. The herds which strike the river at its nearest point below Gurais cross it, and retire to the range of hills on the southern border of Astor. Only a very few stags cross this range, the bulk of the deer remaining on the Cashmere side. The deer on the northern and eastern sides of the valley retire to the slopes of Haramook and the high ground south of the range which separates Cashmere from Dras and Sooroo, but do not appear to cross it. The farther east one goes from Srinugger the less the deer appear to migrate, merely retiring to the heads of the valleys. The altitude of the birch copses just above the limit of the pines is what they seek, and this they can find close at hand on the north and east of the valley, but they have to travel some distance to it on the west. About September 1 the horns should be nearly free from velvet, and as a delicious wild black currant ripens at the same time, the shikaris associate the two. Up to September 20 the old stags are either alone or accompanied by a youngster who acts as fag, and they are not easy to find; in fact, as a rule, shikaris declare that it is useless trying to find them. But when the sportsman knows, from seeing tracks, that there are big stags on the ground, and the heads of the valleys (not the calling grounds) are the places to look for them, then, by carefully watching some glen where tracks have been seen, particularly just about 8 A.M. when the sun is getting hot, a stag may often be discovered as he rises from where he had lain down shortly after sunrise. He is about to move to a more sheltered spot to spend the day--and it is _so_ satisfactory to have a stag or two to one’s credit before they begin to call. Unfortunately it is not always possible. Some of the best valleys during the calling season do not hold stags before that season begins, as the deer move on to them just then, and very often leave immediately afterwards. Good local information is absolutely necessary, and a shikari who does not know every soiling pool, every deer-path, or likely copse for a stag to lie up in is useless.

The calling season generally begins about September 20, and varies according to the weather, and also according to the moon. Fine hot weather and a full moon about the 20th mean that every stag in the place will be calling freely. Wet cold weather and no moon mean the reverse, the weather having more effect than the moon. The idea of the stage of the moon having any effect may be considered fanciful, but if it is taken into consideration that the stags usually begin calling at night and almost invariably fight their battles for supremacy then, it follows that the light of the moon is a decided advantage. A good set-to between two old barasingh stags would be a grand sight. The writer once came across a battle-field, but too late to witness the fight, and the way the turf was ploughed up bore testimony to the severity of the struggle. The rutting season appears to be initiated by the hinds; at least I have observed that the short bark of the hinds is usually heard some days before the roar of the stags, and have seen a stag come best pace out of the forest in answer to a hind’s call in the early morning, before a stag’s challenge had been heard on the ground. It is most amusing to watch a young stag calling, the way he swaggers before his lady-love, tearing up the turf with feet and horns as if nothing could drive him from her, till his challenge is answered by a deeper note, when the youngster curls up at once, flees for his life to the thickest scrub he can find half a mile away and cowers among the bushes, while his mate in the most matter-of-fact way at once attaches herself to his lordly rival, who comes swaggering easily along the hillside with the sunbeams glancing from the burnished points of his glorious antlers. A small calling stag should never be disturbed, as he almost invariably draws out a better beast. Great care, too, should be taken not to frighten away unattached hinds anywhere near a calling ground. If left alone they will sooner or later be joined by stags, though occasionally hinds will run from a stag just as if they had scented a man. The writer on one occasion was watching a hind and calf feeding, when they suddenly galloped off, and presently an old stag came trotting down the hill grunting his displeasure and following their scent like a hound, till, coming within range, he paid the penalty. Probably owing to the scarcity of hinds, even the best stags appear never to be able to collect more than two or three, not counting calves, which seem always to run with their dams for a year.

Old writers talk of stags calling all day long. This may have been so years ago; now-a-days they rarely call after 9 A.M., and do not begin again before 3 P.M. at the earliest. I once heard a grand chorus in the early morning. Five different stags were calling at the same time, but as they seemed to be more or less afraid of one another and kept perpetually on the move, I never got a chance at one of them.