Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-11-22
HUNTING IN NEPAUL.
ON ELEPHANTS MOUNTED, SPORTS
MEN BEAT FOR TIGERS.


BY 10 O'Clock our howdah elephants arc
marshalcd before the tents, and we mount
and stow away our paraphernalia Of guns,
rifles, ammunition, watcrskin, tea bottle
a book perhaps, u gigantic double lined
umbrella to be held over us by the attend.
ant in the back seat and u native blanket.
folded as n cushion now, but to be unfold.
ed and thrown around us should the wild
bees attack That is the simple kit OF
him who cares not for luXuries. Half
mile from our camp we enter a stretch OF
grass in which it would be hopeless to
look for Tigers, and our 40 elephants are
ranged in limo in order to beat for game
of IA less ambitious kind. The order to adj
vance is given, and ! >, und on dog whis.
tie the signal of general shooting" Tho
mnhouts, thoroughly nivc to the fact that
tigers are not likely to present themselves,
keep their beasts in rank so regular that
no likely PATCH of COVER shall be passed
unhcatcn. and we are Oft.
Now from one hoWduh now from an.
other, anon from two or three huwdnhs
simultaneously. guns aud rifles are fired
rs birds and beasts rise ,r break before MS.
Now falls IL black plrlriGgc. now peacock
comes to earth with all his panoply Oi
gorgeous plumagc, now II hog deer or a
chcctul dies. ANA So our death dealing line
moves ON, broken only when, for few
minutes, one clcl hunt stui : to pad n stag
or pig or other game too hcavy to he lifted
by the elephants trunk, and hundcd-ut
trunkcd-to the mahOut for safe keeping
in bag. Other wild things fall in this
improviscd bnttue--swamp cartridges lin
correctly styled chikorc) harcs and, raised
out of ii bit Of marshy ground, snipc.
But all those smaller creatures, albeit use.
full for our cOmmiSSariat, and especially
for the standing stewpan, are insignifi-
cant by comparison with splendidly
headed sambhur. That gives a glory to
our bag that outshines all else. The kill
ing Of that noble stag is fortunate as
well as u brilliant achievement, for ordi-
narily the sambhur only exhibits himself
when the Shi1ari, being directed to reserve
his fire for tiger, may not shoot him.
We have done fairly we'll in that strip
of grass ana now proceed to beat the dry
course of a forest stream, in some parts
of which there is cover of grass below a
shade from the ovcrhanging trees Hero
we may, with luck and proper strategy.
rouse tiger; consequently more careful
tactics have to be adopted. Three of our
four guns are sent rs ''stOps" to advance
posts up the nullah, whithcrward they
make their way by forest routes; one re-
mains to drive along the nullah bed, he
being thanked on either hand by beating
elephants that shall keep such line as cir
cum,tances and the mahuuts' sense of
hpnor-a dubious quantity-may permit
Upon all is laid the injunction that there
shall he no shot fired save at tiger, panthc
or bear
SO for some three furlongs the main limo
wcnds its way up and along either bank
of the nullah, while the stops move for
ward to head the driven quarry Nono
of the smaller dcnizenS of the woodland
rises on runs unassailcd by him who holds
the pass. still for many minutes is the
forest silence unbrokcn by report of fire
arm or other sound, save those which tho
heavy footed elephants evolve. Suddenly
Motinohul, the howdAh hearing bchcmuth
of the nullah, dashcs her trunk against
the ground with resounding noise and
forth from out of dense grass patch d
tiger daSheS is seen in time and sorcv
wounded as it mounts the nullah's bank
Untouched by bullet that tiger S.ht
have disappeared in the leagues of forests
that hcrcaway extend ON three Sidc,, he-
ing hit, it turns in its course and springs
upon the elephant in the nullah bed some
feet below il, reaches the pad and cliugs
there.
Now, if that elephant would but stand
for "a matter of ten seconds the tiger would
receive its coup de grace from him who
rides in the hoWdah. But the intelligence
of Mptlmohul docs not grasp the situa ion.
1t only rises To the occasion sufficiently 10
move her to do that which, under the cir
cumstanceS, is the worst thing to he done.
She curls her trunk up to set that ont If
the way of "A tiger that is nowhere within
reach Of it and bolts blindly. The tiger
drops To the ground, shaken and doubtless
puzzled, and the curtain drops on act 1.
Tortunatclya tiger badly hit is generally
tiger baggcd, and this one is in that
case, Motimohu is pulled up in some
thing within quarter of amilc after sev-
eral Intellectual efforts to smash her howdah
among the trees. The line of elephants,
which has broken up in disorder, is raj
lied, the stops come in from the front,
and We with such orderly arrangement
rs may be, rntraco our steps. We beat the
cover of the nulah and its banks with
scrupulOus attention to every thicket that
may hold the tiger. BY dint of much
forcibc language in the Vcrnacular of q
country llfl mas a peculiar potency OF
vocabulary, by dint of lavish promise of
backsheesh rs well, our mahouts do their
duty To some cXtont-and with success !;
the tiger rises from out of its grassy refuge,
rours and chargcS--to fall pierced by half
a dozen bullets, just as for IA second time
it had come home to one of our elephants.
Ilurrah We do not shout thus wise,
for we are EngliShmen and not emotional.
Il f,,p ri
ulation, hut we are glad at heart that thi,
splendid creature has heen given into our
hands, and checrily we settle down to an
early thin while the tiger is being pad
ded. saturday Review.
The Oldest Herbarium.
The Oldest herbarium in the world Is
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Ii consists OF an inCOnsuicuous collect ion