forest, and soon
killed him. Just as we had done so, news came that a herd of bison was
grazing on a ridge about half or three-quarters of a mile or so away, and
as our pursuit of them elucidates some points of practical importance, I
give a short description of the stalk and its accompanying circumstances.

The herd of bison, it appears, were just outside a jungly ravine which ran
up from the main forest through the grass land. The jungle terminated just
below a ridge of hill, along which we approached the spot. Overhanging the
hollow were some rocks which afforded us a convenient place to creep
behind, and presently we lay down there, looking at the herd, which was
below us, and about a hundred yards away. And then we found (as Mr.
Sanderson so often did that he at last gave up attacking herd bison) that
it was impossible to fire at the bull, as he was screened by the cows. How
long we lay watching I cannot exactly tell, but as the day got hotter the
bison began to move, and then we had a chance of firing at the big bull.
The herd, bull included, then entered the jungly ravine, and presently
reappeared a little further down and on the right of the ravine with a
calf which had evidently been left in the ravine, and filed along the
slope. The bull, however, had remained behind. Now comes a point of great
importance in following up big game, and which, curiously enough, has
never been noticed hitherto, at least I have not been able to meet with
any reference to it in the many big game shooting books I have looked at.
If an animal is wounded, it is a common practice to follow it up at once,
the result of which is that it will often go off to a considerable
distance (which is often highly inconvenient) and frequently be lost. But
if, instead of following the startled animal at once, a perfect silence is
maintained, and you remain where you are, the animal, the moment it is
inside the jungle, will stand to listen, and if it can neither hear nor
see anything, will probably lie down to recover from the shock, and if it
does so, will very probably not rise from the spot for a considerable
time. You have thus an opportunity of getting ahead of your quarry and
coming back to the margin of the forest from a direction opposite to that
from which it naturally expects danger, and it will thus have to pass you
again in order to get further into the forest, and you will then, as I
have known from experience, get another shot. On this oc