The Wild Sports of India: With Detailed Instructions for the Sportsman; to which are Added Remarks on the Breeding and Rearing of Horses and the Formation of Light Irregular Cavalry

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Smith, Elder, 1862 - Horse breeding - 365 pages
 

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Page vi - The man that's strangled by a hair. Fate steals along with silent tread, Found oftenest in what least we dread, Frowns in the storm with angry brow, But in the sunshine strikes the blow.
Page 202 - Oh, who can tell, save he whose heart hath tried, And danced in triumph o'er the waters wide, The exulting sense - the pulse's maddening play, That thrills the wanderer of that trackless way? That for itself can woo the approaching fight, And turn what some deem danger to delight...
Page 161 - I sat at the bottom, telling my people to carry on the track. They had scarcely gone on a hundred yards from me, when they beckoned to me to come up, and pointing down through the crevice of the rock, showed me what I thought was the wounded bear. I fired, and heard my bullet hit; but to my astonishment out went two bears from below me. One of them almost immediately rolled over; and the other (which is very common with bears) stopping to condole with him, I fired at, and knocked over. Before I could...
Page xv - ... root of all eviL To each one is his talent given by God to cultivate: to the Preacher, in order to save the souls of the poor, unlettered, and ignorant heathen; to him who has been blessed with the gifts of good nerve, energy, and strength, that he may save the bodies of these same ignorant heathen from the fell destroyer that lives in the forest and preys upon them.
Page 35 - He was about forty yards' distance from me. Directly he saw me, putting his head a little down to take aim, he came straight at me, increasing his pace from the trot to the charge. When about fifteen yards off he received the first bullet of my rifle in his neck. Taking not the least notice of it, he came on; and the second barrel fired at him, at about five yards, broke his left under jaw-bone at the tusk. Fortunately I brought my rifle down to the charge, and, striking it with his head, the boar...
Page 149 - I could not see his head very distinctly, but fired deliberately behind his shoulder. In one moment he was again upon me. I gave him the charge of shot, as I supposed, in his face, but had no time to take aim. The horsekeeper, instead of spearing, fell upon his back. In the next instant the panther got hold of my left foot in his teeth, and threw me on my back. I struck at him with the empty gun, and he seized the barrels in his mouth. This was his last effort. I sprang up, and, seizing the spear...
Page 162 - The coolie who valicntly approached the other bear was immediately charged, and bolted up to me saying 'The bear is not wounded at all ; you had bettter come and shoot it yourself if you want it !' I therefore went down and fired another shot. Then taking a short spear, and thinking this would be a good opportunity of trying the feat of spearing a bear, I brought the point to the front. The bear charged down from thirty yards at full gallop so soon as she saw me, and I stopped her with a spear in...
Page 241 - I will endeavour to put upon paper a few maxims, as a guide to the young hunter. The kind of foot which will fall most silently on the ground must be given by God; for it must be naturally arched in the instep, and have its corresponding concave in the sole. Only this formation of foot will allow of a silent and firm tread, and will give the elasticity and strength necessary to support the weight of the body, through a long day's toil, without jarring the limbs above it, or wearying the muscles and...
Page 147 - There was a large panther sitting out, unconcealed, between two bushes, a dozen yards before me. I could not, however, see his head ; and, whilst I was thus delayed, he came out with a roar straight at me. I fired at his chest with the ball ; and, as he sprang upon me, the shot barrel was aimed at his head. In the next moment he seized my left arm and the gun. Thus, not being able to use the gun as a club, I forced it, crosswise, into his mouth.
Page 148 - I got to my horse, and to the other beaters, who were all collected together some forty yards from the fight. " I immediately loaded the gun with a charge of shot, and a bullet that I perchance found ; and taking my revolver pistol out of the holster, and sticking it into my belt, determined to carry on the affair to its issue, knowing how rarely men recover from such wounds as mine. I was bleeding profusely from large tooth wounds in the arm ; the tendons of my left-hand were torn open, and I had...

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