mischief in the air, and had their heads up, looking in different directions, though the buck was still grazing.

As I eagerly watched him, hoping he would expose his side to me-for at present he was nearly end on-the suspicious does began to move off. Then one bounded into the air, and the buck raised his head. A bound from a second doe made him break into a trot; then, swinging round, he stopped and looked behind him. Here was my chance; the hinds were now trotting off, and, knowing he would follow them almost immediately, I took a hasty aim at the point of his shoulder. As my finger pressed the trigger he turned again, and in consequence my bullet struck him on the near hind leg, shattering the bone above the hock. He dropped to the shot, but was quickly up and off again on three legs, my second bullet failing to stop him.

Hastily calling up the camels, we mounted as quickly as we could, and set off in hot pursuit across the plain. The buck had, of course, a good start of us, but I could still see him careering ahead, though the unwounded hinds were already out of sight. To keep him in view we had now to urge our camel to his fastest and most uncomfortable trot. Very soon we saw the buck plunge into a narrow belt of scrub and high grass which ran across the plain, and for a minute or more we lost sight of him.

On emerging from the scrub on to the maidan beyond, we were astonished to see, not the buck, but a pack of jackals, seven of them, running hard with their noses to the ground, some three hundred yards ahead of us. Râm Singh grasped the situation at a glance, for he whispered over my shoulder, 'They are hunting our wounded buck, sahib, and have not noticed us; don't press them, but just keep them in view, and they will pull him down.'

Then began one of the most extraordinary hunts I ever took part in; and I dare say it has never fallen to the lot of anyone else to ride a camel to a pack of wild jackals, with a black buck as the quarry.

As we rode along, keeping the jackals in view, I noticed that they ran perfectly mute, and in such close formation that the proverbial sheet would have covered them. Across the maidan, and under some trees they raced, then with diminished pace carried the line through several acres of low scrub and rough grass, to another plain beyond. There, some distance ahead, we again descried our buck, but for only a second or two, as he soon disappeared into a broad but shallow nullah.

Through that the jackals drove him, and we saw both them and the buck, with but a couple of hundred yards between them,

rapidly approaching the edge of a dense bit of jungle. Though so close to their victim the pack was still hunting by scent, and it soon became evident that the buck would reach the jungle before them.

In crossing the nullah we had lost some ground, but the large open plain between it and the jungle had enabled us to keep the hunt in view. As the buck reached the jungle and disappeared from view, I said, 'The buck is nearly done, Râm Singh, but we shall lose him now.'

'He won't get much further, sahib,' he answered, but will lie down now, and the jackals will kill him.'

'Even so, if we lose sight of the jackals we are done,' I reply, as I urge the camel forward, and diminish the distance between us. Alas for my keenness! I have disturbed them.

'Look, Râm Singh, they have noticed us,' I whisper, as the jackals stop and look back; then, suddenly, they disperse right and left, and disappear in the jungle.

Never mind, sahib, we shall find the buck, he cannot go

'Let the camel sit down,' commands the shikari, as we reach the jungle, his one aim and object being to secure the buck, and I will dismount.' This he very quickly did, and being an excellent tracker soon hit off the slot of our buck. I followed on the camel as he puzzled out the trail, and in a very short time we came on the antelope, which, weakened by his run and the loss of blood, was lying nearly spent in some long grass.

As we approached, the buck tried to rise to his feet, but without avail, and the shikari rushing in, seized him by the horns and ended his struggle with the big knife.

Though I felt sorry for the poor beast, and for all he must have suffered, I must confess my chief regret was that by disturbing the jackals I had spoilt a good finish to a run which I shall never forget.

We now spent some time in searching for our second camel, which was nowhere in sight. The pace had evidently been too hot for the driver, or perhaps the merciful man had been sparing his beast. Anyhow, it took us a good quarter of an hour to find him, and another to get the buck attached to his camel. As the tiffin basket had to be taken off before this could be done, I had an excellent opportunity for a much-needed whisky-and-soda. Even Râm Singh, forgetting his caste prejudices for once, accepted a proffered drink, having first carefully put the camel between himself and the driver.

As the shikari judged we were now some nine or ten miles from Hissar, we decided to turn homewards, looking out for buck as we went; and to ease my be-jolted limbs I got down to walk for a mile or two. On remounting, what with talking over our rur, and discussing the length of it, which we finally put at about two miles, we were not keeping such a good look-out as usual. Consequently, on emerging from some scrub on to an open maidan we disturbed a large herd of antelope, which began to move off in the direction of the extensive jungle we had left. They did not, however, seem to be much alarmed at the sight of the camels, and as we went leisurely on they began to settle down again. Knowing it would be useless to dismount now, we gradually but carefully moved round them in a slowly decreasing circle until we got between them and that part of the jungle towards which they had been moving. Having thus cut off their retreat, we advanced more boldly upon them, and were surprised to find they only stood still and looked at us. Had the camel only consented to follow suit I could now have had a lovely shot. This, however, he obstinately refused to do; and as Râm Singh tightened the rein the aggravating brute put his nose in the air, and began to turn round and round, emitting at the same time a long-drawn-out and discordant groan. This eccentric behaviour was too much for the antelope, and sent them off to the jungle as fast as they could go on either side of us. Never was I in a more tantalising position. Black buck surrounded me in easy distance, and there was I, rifle in hand, sitting on a gyrating lunatic of a camel, utterly unable to get an aim at one of them.

As the last disappeared into the jungle I had a random shot, pulling the trigger in sheer vexation of spirit, rather than with any hope of bagging a buck, and the camel at once stood still. I looked behind me at Râm Singh. Simultaneously the comical side of the situation struck us, and we burst out laughing. This cleared the atmosphere considerably, and we went on our way, not exactly rejoicing, but greatly amused.

Twice more on our homeward journey we stalked some buck, and-need I remark?-dismounted for the purpose. One good buck I bagged, and badly missed another; we also disturbed some nilgai without getting a shot at them, and shortly afterwards I called the shikari's attention to some vultures soaring over a spot close by.

'Where was it?' I asked, 'that I shot at the chinkara in the morning?'

'Very nearly where we are now,' he replied.

'I thought so, and it may be that I killed the chinkara, and that the vultures are after his carcass now."

'It will be your back without doubt, sahib,' said Râm Singh. 'Let us Lasten and see.'

Rousing the camel into a trot, we rapidly approached the spot, and there saw fifty or more red-headed vultures in a circle on the ground, pulling and tearing at something which they hid from our view. Others, looking quite gorged, were standing by, or perched on a neighbouring tree, while yet more were soaring high in the sky.

Making the camel lie down I dismounted, and walked towards the crowd of repulsive-looking birds. Some of those which had already feasted flapped heavily out of my way, but those actually

engaged in eating the carcass were so intent on it that they did not notice my approach. I actually had to hit some of the birds across the back with the barrel of my rifle before they moved. Then arose such a flapping of wings as the vultures hastened away, that the faint-hearted camel turned and made another bolt with the shikari.

As the birds cleared off a jackal slunk away, licking his chops, and I now saw the bedraggled remains of what must have been a very fine chinkara. There was nothing left of him now but the skin and bones, with the exception of his head and neck, which so far had not been eaten, though his eyes were gone. In his skin I found the bullet hole which had entered his side just behind the heart, and from which I judged death must have been almost