The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-03-02
(Outing Magazine.l

| government reserve forest of Scenario,
in which ] had obtained leave to shoot
| for two months. 1t is veritable
/ sportsman's paradise; a fire line, some
| nifty yards broad and cleared of trees
and shrubs, incloses thick jungle con-
tanning 400 square miles, full of almost
| every description. as the ferae nsturae
had quickly recognized it as a sanctu-
ary.
But it was for bison (gaur) that Sc
maria was especially famous, and it
was bison that | was after. | had done
| a good deal of shooting, and tiger, leo
pard, bear and deer of many kinds had
fallen to my rife. but had yet TO gath
er my first bison; and indeed he is
prize worthy of much toll and trouble.
Standing sixteen TO seventeen hands
high at the shoulder. the greatest part
of which is girth, with short. wiry legs
ending in comparatively small deer-like
hoOfs, his activity is truly wonderful.
He would take his vast black bulk up
the mountain tracks leading to Rani
chua, through places where We found
some little difficulty in following on
foot; and, gifted with a keen sense of
smell. he was very difficult to get on
terms with, more especially as the jun
gle, composed principally of bamboo
clumps, was very dense, and afforded a
very limited range of vision. One might
get almost into the middle of a herd and
distinctly hear them grazing all around
without seeing a single animal. The
horns, too, very thick at the base and
tapering inward to a point in fine,
bold curve and capable of taking
beautiful polish, made a trophy dear
to the sportsmans heart
One morning we picked up some
fresh tracks-quality not quantity. The
party consisted of a bull bison and
COW with two calves, a great contrast
to the usual herd. The bull was ap-
parently an enormous fellow, as his
tracks clearly showed. and Ram Dass
grunted high approval as he pointed out
their size. There was only one thing to
be done, and that was to gather that
bull. The prospective size of his horns
fairly made my mouth water. That day
we never came up with them at all, and
the next two days we failed to get
fresh tracks, but on July 10 we got on
terms late in the afternoon. On going
forward as usual, but with extra care,
l came across an open grassy belt, al
most like the fire line, which had TO be
crossed. There was no cover, but the
grass was three to four feet high, so
Wormed across at full length with the
wind in my face: when about halfway
across, suddenly with an indignant lit
tie snort a Well-grown calf jumped up,
startling me nearly to death, and |
don't know which of US was the more
surprised. 1t must have been tast
asleep. as | wriggled right up to it and
could have almost touched it with my
hand. Another second and with an
enormous snort the bull jumped up from
behind a bush, and raced across the
open, followed by the COW and the other
calf There was no mistaking the for
mer: he was an enormous brute, and his
horns were in proportion l got one
hurried shot at him-a clean and tidy
miss-and had no time for a second, as
the COW and the calf got i'll the way. |
So ended our first meeting.
For the next fortnight, l fear me, l
had that bull bison on the brain. Day
and night his black bulk and enormous |
horns were ever in my mind, and l set
myself seriously to the task of annex |
ing them before my leave was up. On
July 81 l had to be back to Jubbulpore, |
and allowing for the eighty-mile ride |
back, it was obvious that ii would hard |
" be safe for me to shoot later than the |
9th. No doubt I should have made |
better bag, if | had stuck to the orig |
inal herds; but what were all the herds |
in the Scenario jungle TO me compared
to that magnificent bull?-and so for /
fortnight I tOiIed like one distraught. /
his change of grazing ground, but never
once did I set my eyes on him. Some |
days we never picked up his tracks at
all. and when he did-and twice they |
took us across the entire Ranichua |
either never came up with |
him or the stalk ended in failure. And
so the weary chase went on over hill I
and dale, through narrow tracks up the
side, where we followed with
i
bamboo jungle, and through open,
grassy, sunlit glades Even night did
not always bring rest, for in my dreams
l was forever tOiling after a distant
black speck, to which | could never get
any closer.
And so came the 26th of July. my last
day but one After three consecutive
blank days we picked up the tracks on
the lower southern spur of Ranichua,
and followed through comparatively
open ground. Late in the afternoon we
had not come up with him, so we ar
ranged to go on as long as daylight
lasted, sleeping where we happened to
be. and continue at daybreak of my last
day; we were determined to end up
thoroughly. AT length the Bill tracker
stopped and motioned to me TO come I
forward.
''Bagh," Sahib," he whispered, "do
Odgn, deco.
Sure enough there were the pugs of
two tigers, and they occasionally COW
cred the bison tracks, showing that they
were in pursuit, doubtless hoping TO
pick up calf. This was an unexpected
development. and we pushed forward
with fresh interest.
An hour later the bison tracks had 4.
become deeper and confused, showing
that they were on the run.
The sun was now low and only an
hours daylight was left, and inwardly
breathed maledictions on the interior 7.
ng tigers; they had obviously started
the bison off, and there would be no
chance of coming up with them now
We stopped a moment for a murmured ;
and Ram Dass and thel
Bill shook their heads doubtfully: and ,
ny last hope seemed gone. when the
Bhil held up his hand
To our right over some intervening ;
high ground we heard the trampling of !
and with one accord. be-
ng screened from view, we made our
way to the top as quickly and quietly as
We could. When we arrived at the top ,
oreathless and painting we saw
strange sight
The setting sun was flooding the lit I