4-ounce.
" . . 3 double " rifles No. 10.
" . . 1 double " gun . No. 16.
18 guns.
These guns were all by the first makers, and we took possession of our
hunting country with the confidence of a good bag, provided that game
was abundant.
But how changed was this country since I had visited it in former years,
not only in appearance but in the quantity of game!
On these plains, where in times past I had so often counted immense
herds of wild buffaloes, not one was now to be seen. The deer were
scared and in small herds, not exceeding seven or ten, proving how they
had been thinned out by shooting. In fact, Minneria had become within
the last four years a focus for most sportsmen, and the consequence was,
that the country was spoiled; not by the individual shooting of
visitors, but by the stupid practice of giving the natives large
quantities of powder and ball as a present at the conclusion of a trip.
They, of course, being thus supplied with ammunition, shot the deer and
buffaloes without intermission, and drove them from the country by
incessant harassing.
I saw immediately that we could not expect much sport in this disturbed
part of the country, and we determined to waste no more time in this
spot than would be necessary in procuring the elephant trackers from
Doolana. We planned our campaign that evening at dinner.
Nov. 18.--At daybreak I started Wallace off to Doolana to bring my old
acquaintance the Rhatamahatmeya and the Moormen trackers.
