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Hunting Tours, Cornelius Tongue, "Cecil" (Saunders, Otley and Co.), 1864; Records of the Fife Foxhounds, J. Babington (Blackwood), 1883; Hunting Notes in the West Midlands, Sir R. D. G. Price, "Borderer" (Baily), 1885, 2nd series, 1886; Hound and Horn, or Recollections of George Carter, "I. H. G." (Simpkin). 1885; Cleveland Hounds as a Trencher-Fed Pack, A. E. Pease (Longmans), - VOL. III as a 1887; The Pytchley Hunt, Past and Present, H. O. Nethercote (Sampson Low), 1888; Century of Fox-Hunting with the Warwickshire Hounds, "Castor" (Marlborough), 1891; Life and Times of "The Druid," Hon. F. Lawley (Vinton), 1895; Annals of the Warwickshire Hunt, 1795-1895, Sir C. Mordaunt and Hon. and Revd. H. R. Verney (Sampson Low), 1896; The Essex Foxhounds, R. F. Ball and T. Gilbey (Vinton), 1896; The History of the Belvoir Hunt, T. F. Dale (Constable), 1899; Fifty Years' Hunting with the Grafton and Other Packs of Hounds, J. M. K.

Elliott (Cox), 1900; Eighty Years' Reminiscences, Colonel Anstruther Thomson (Longmans), 1904; The Sedgefield Country in the 'Seventies and 'Eighties, R. Ord (Dresser, Darlington), 1904; A History of the Old Berks Hunt, 1760-1904, F. C. Loder-Symonds and E. P. Crowdy (Vinton), J. W. Fortescue (Chapman and Hall), 1887; Red 1905; Records of Stag-Hunting on Exmoor, Hon. 1905; Deer, R. Jefferies (Longmans), 1892; The History of the Royal Buckhounds, J. P. Hore (Remington), 1893; The Red Deer, "Fur and Feather" series: Stag-Hunting, Lord Ebrington (Longmans), 1896; The Story of a Red Deer, Hon. J. W. Fortescue (Macmillan), 1897; Stag-Hunting with the Devon and Somerset, 1887-91, P.

Evered (Chatto and Windus), 1901; Wild Red Deer in the Counties of Devon and Somerset, C. F. Collyns, 1862, edited by Hon. L. J. Bathurst (Alston Rivers), 1907; The Red Deer of Exmoor, 1070-1906, A. Hamilton (Cox), 1907; Hare Hunting, H. A. Bryden (Grant Richards), 1903; Otters and Otter-Hunting, L. C. R. Cameron (Upcott Gill), 1908; The Otter-Hunter's Diary and Companion (Treherne), 1910; British Hunting, A. W. Coaten (Sampson Low), 1909; Bailly's Hunting Directory (Vinton), in progress; The Hunting Annual, compiled by W. H. May and A. W. Coaten (Love and Malcolmson), in progress.

HUNTING DOG. - The Cape hunting dog (Lycaon pictus), the Wilde Hond of the Boers, stands slightly under two feet at the shoulder, drooping somewhat at the quarters, and has an extreme length-from snout to tip of tail of about four feet or a trifle over. The body is slight, the muzzle pointed, while the skull is like that of a wolf, but shorter and wider. The general body colour is yellowish-red, blotched with irregular markings of black, white, and yellow. The face, nose, and muzzle are black; the ears large and erect. The tail is bushy and fox-like, separated towards the middle by a black ring. Above this ring the colour is yellowish; below, white. The hunting dog runs in packs, ranging in number between a dozen and forty or fifty.

It possesses great pace and staying power, and few antelopes in Africa can stand before the savage and relentless pursuit of these fierce and dangerous animals. The packs hunt in a systematic and organised manner, often driving their prey in a circle, so that relays of fresh hounds take up the pursuit. Mr. F. C. Selous has witnessed a single Cape hunting dog running down, single-handed, so strong and formidable an G animal as the sable antelope. In the actual chase, the hounds, as they press their game, dash forward in turn and take snaps at the flank and under parts of the beast pursued.

These animals are plentiful in many parts of the interior. In Cape Colony and the more settled regions of South Africa packs of hunting dogs, although being gradually exterminated, still exist and do enormous damage to flocks. Numbers of sheep and goats are destroyed in a single night by these dangerous marauders. On these occasions the hunting dogs, apparently from the mere savage delight of slaughter, rip and tear far more than the number of animals required HUNTING DOG. for their supply of food. The hunting dog seems to have little fear of man. I have seen a pack in the interior, while in full chase after a koodoo, suddenly stop at sight of our hunting wagons and coolly indulge in a prolonged stare, after which they took up the pursuit again. Gordon Cumming, while shooting by night at a pool of water, once sustained a great fright from a large pack of these wild hounds, and had some difficulty in driving them off. In addition to South Africa, this hunting dog is found in many other parts of the African Continent, as far north as Abyssinia and Somaliland. In different districts slight variations in colouring are to be noticed, and scientific naturalists appear to be inclined to separate these races into sub-species. All these wild hounds, however, have the strongest possible family likeness, the East African race being perhaps the richest and handsomest in hue.

H. A. BRYDEN.

HURLING.- [See LOCAL SPORTS.] [HUNTING DOG HYÆNA.—There are three species of true hyænas: the striped hyæna (H. striata), found in India, South-western Asia, and the North and East of Africa; the spotted hyæna (H. crocuta), which is, perhaps, commonest in South Africa, but is known northward to Senegal in the west, and to Somaliland and Abyssinia in the East of Africa; and the brown hyæna (H. brunnea), found in South Africa, but ranging some distance up the two sides of the Continent. Another animal, distantly connected with the hyænas, is the curious Aard-wolf of the Cape Dutch colonists, known to men of science as Proteles cristatus. This singular animal looks like a small striped hyæna, but has a more pointed nose and longer ears, five toes instead of four upon the fore feet, and teeth which, compared with those of the true hyænas, are poor and feeble. The aard-wolf represents a family by itself, called by naturalists Proteleida. Hyænas are always miscalled wolves by the Boers of South Africa; the spotted hyæna being known as the 66 tiger-wolf," as its pied coat resembles distantly that of the leopard, always called "tiger" by the Cape Dutch; the brown hyæna is called "strand-wolf," from its supposed partiality for the seashore; while the aard-wolf, "earth-wolf," takes its colonial name from its burrowing propensities. This aard-wolf ranges through East Africa to Somaliland East.

All the true hyænas are fierce and ravenous, yet extremely cowardly brutes. They are essentially nocturnal beasts, and seldom or never have the hardihood to face mankind boldly and openly. The most formidable is undoubtedly the spotted hyæna of Africa, the largest of the three kinds, which will carry off young children, and in remote native districts even attack sleeping adults.

Not a few natives of South Africa have lost a cheek, or some other fleshy part of their person, from the cowardly nocturnal assault of a "tiger-wolf," made upon them while asleep in the open, or even in an unclosed hut. Where these ravenous brutes have not been killed off, their devastations upon flocks and herds are very great. Sheep and goats fall a ready prey to them, and they will easily master calves, and even cows and weak or ailing oxen. The teeth of all three of the true hyænas are immensely powerful, and with their highly developed jaw-muscles enable them to crack and devour bones that would offer great difficulties to any others of the Carnivora.

The spotted hyæna stands some 2 feet 6 inches to 2 feet 8 inches at the shoulder; the striped and brown hyænas are rather HYENA] less in size. The skins of hyænas, from the carrion-eating propensities of the animals, are usually very malodorous.

The coat of the aard-wolf is, however, very handsome, and not very offensive. In colour it is of a yellowish-brown, neatly marked with black stripes, and having a thick mane and bushy tail. This animal is trapped and hunted for its skin a good deal by the Bechuana natives, and the pelt is often to be seen at traders' stores up country. The aard-wolf is considerably smaller than its relatives the true hyænas, and resembles somewhat a large, leggy, and high-shouldered fox-if such a beast could be imagined. The aard-wolf feeds occasionally on carrion, but the contents of its stomach indicate that more often than not its dietary consists of white ants, grubs, and other insects. The appetite of the true hyænas is well-nigh immeasurable. Like the vultures they gorge at a dead carcase until they can literally fill themselves no more, and a spotted hyæna, shot at early morning, as it is retiring from its disgusting banquet, will be found to be almost bursting with repletion. Against any animal that they can master, hyænas are murderously savage, and the poor beast, whether sheep, calf, goat, cow, or antelope, is torn to pieces and devoured with marvellous celerity.

Ω In, Cape Colony the spotted and brown hyænas have been shot, trapped, and poisoned off by the farmers until few now remain. Beyond the Orange River, however, they, with the aard-wolf, are still abundant in many places. It cannot be said that any of these creatures are good sporting animals; their habits are too nocturnal, and only at very early morning, when retreating to their earths and resting-places, do they offer a fair shot to the rifle. The Cape colonists, long since recognising these difficulties, have achieved the downfall of the spotted and brown hyænas largely by aid of strychnine pills inserted into dead carcases.

The "tiger-wolf," too, with his tremendous jaws and teeth, is a formidable beast for any but the very largest and fiercest dogs to tackle. The up-country Boers used occasionally to capture one of these brutes in log traps, slit the hind legs just above the hocks, and insert between the sinew and bone an iron chain. Thus fastened up, the hyæna was suffered to break his teeth in the vain attempt to gnaw through his fetters.

He was then considered a fit subject for the dogs to bait and kill. This extremely cruel sport was supposed among the old-fashioned Boers to be a capital training for young hounds.

In the hunting veldt, hyænas are often extremely troublesome round the camp at night. One of the simplest and most effective ways of dealing with them known as the gun trap, or stell of the Dutch farmers - is still commonly practised. A loaded gun is firmly lashed in a horizontal position, at about the height of the hyæna's head, to two stout saplings, or strong poles, driven into the ground. A short piece of wood, which acts as lever, is tied to the side of the gun stock in such a way as to move slightly backwards and forwards. A piece of string connects the trigger with the lower part of the lever. Another piece of strong cord is then fastened to the upper part of 2.3.1 SPOTTED HYÆNA. the lever, the other end being firmly tied to a large piece of flesh secured over the muzzle of the gun. A small fence round the gun is then made, with an aperture in front, so that the hyæna can only seize the meat while facing the muzzle of the gun. Drags or trails of flesh or carrion, conducting to the trap, are then usually laid. If the affair comes off successfully, the hyæna seizes the bait, pulls the trigger, and the contents of the gun are lodged in its skull, or the head itself is blown to pieces.

It is a curious fact that the young of hyænas, if taken quite in infancy, can be so tamed as to become attached to human beings. Thus tamed, they will even make friends with dogs, usually their inveterate enemies.

H. A. BRYDEN.

IN SOMALILAND. - The spotted hyæna is not hunted systematically in Somaliland, but is killed as vermin whenever met. There are generally a dozen or so about each kraal; they prowl about at night outside the zarebas, or thorn-fences, within which the sheep and goats are G2 penned at night. They carry off children, and often molest men and women while asleep, generally attacking the face, and tearing off the cheek. Many are the Somali men and women to be seen with their faces horribly disfigured, without eyes or nose, the work of the waràba, or spotted hyæna.

These animals tear off cows' udders and camels' tails. Half a dozen of them will attack and kill a haltered camel in a few minutes. Old people are occasionally killed by hyænas.

Round the sportsman's camp they are nightly visitors, attracted by the scraps of meat scattered about; and I have, at different times, shot in all some two dozen from the tent door, and several while I was watching over water. On one occasion, at a well, I found the bodies of seven spotted hyænas, killed by natives by the simple expedient of putting poison in one of the troughs of puddled clay which stand at the mouth of every well where water is left after the cattle have drunk. The wells are deep and difficult to climb into, and wild animals often have to drink from these troughs left by the herdsmen.

In Somaliland the spotted hyæna, which is commoner there than the striped species, should give a glorious run in suitable country, for they are very numerous round Berbera, Bulhar, and Zeyla on the Somali Coast, and at Harar, when cholera was raging about 1892, they were said to come in thousands at sunset to drag away the dead bodies of the victims.

The cry of the spotted hyæna is a peculiarly mournful howl a long drawn note ending with a high one, or two low notes with a high one in the middle. When breaking up a carcase, the hyæna emits curious low chuckles.

Striped hyænas are not often shot in Somaliland; they live more in the bush, and do not prowl so much round the kraals; they are also rarer. The skin of this species is often very handsome, with a bushy tail.

There is no difficulty in shooting either kind of hyæna, but there is very little sport in it, although the spotted species affords the very best practice in night-shooting.

My own custom was to paste a long strip of white paper down the rib of the rifle, and, when shooting at night, to take a quick aim with the muzzle slightly raised, then to lower it, and pull the trigger as the white line disappeared from view. So fired, the rifle carries high, and the eyes should be fixed about six inches below the object at short range.

H. G. C. SWAYNE. [HYÆNA IN INDIA.—The only species of hyæna in India is the striped Hyena striata. It is somewhat smaller than the African spotted species, but appears bigger owing to the large mane or crest which hangs over on either side of the neck to a little below the withers. Its appearance is ungainly, as its front legs are higher than the hind: the stripes, which recall the hoops of a barrel, extend downwards on to the legs.

This species stands about 2 feet at the shoulder, and is about 5 feet 8 inches in length, including the tail, which is about 15 inches long and bushy; the snout is STRIPED HYÆNA.

Faldwell moderately long but blunt. It has immensely powerful jaws, and can crack even a horse's thigh-bone with ease. The great longitudinal ridge on the top of the skull is far larger than even in the lion or tiger, and to this ridge are attached the great cheek muscles which close the jaw. The strong cheek teeth have great conical crowns, the base of the cone being belted by a strong ridge which defends the subjacent gum; but the canines are proportionally smaller than in the cats, and the outermost incisorthat nearest the canine-is much larger than in the latter. The total number of teeth is thirty-four.

This hyæna is cowardly, as a rule, but occasionally shows pluck. It generally confines its attacks to the maimed, and carries off infants, and usually feeds on any carrion or offal it can find. Very noisy at night, and only inferior in this respect to the jackal, it is not of much account as a beast of chase in India, but when one is found on a ridable plain, it is always a feather in a hunter's cap to run down and spear one on horseback. I have had a strong shaft -a solid male bamboo-of a spear that had survived many a boar-hunt severed in two by a hyæna, after I had thrust it right through him. Hyænas not only possess considerable speed, but double like hares.

IBEX] A friend of mine when chasing one of these beasts, after spearing him, had the misfortune to fall with his horse almost on the top of the hyæna. The brute turned round, gave a snap, and bit the horse's leg almost in two just above the pastern, and then gave up the ghost.

The natives catch hyænas by tying a kid over a pit-fall on a small platform, which gives way when the aggressor springs, as it must on account of a gap being left all round.

When I was a mere griff beating some ravines, within 50 yards of me rose, only to disappear almost instantaneously, three striped bodies. My heart palpitated considerably faster than its wont, for I took the unclean brutes for tigers, and I was on foot in rather heavy jungle, but my disgust may be imagined when three striped hyænas trotted past my post within IO yards, and in revenge for my disappointment I laid two of them low. If a male hyæna, with his consort, come across a solitary dog they will muster up courage to attack and make a speedy ending of it; but an officer of my regiment had a Poligar dog that fairly beat off a couple.

The hyæna is nocturnal in its habits, and will now and then carry off sheep and goats.

As it desecrates graves, it is detested by the natives of India; and when one is killed the body is treated with every mark of indignity and finally burnt. F. T. POLLOK. [See also Vol. I., pp. 243-4.] more or IBEX. The ibex, steinbock, or bouquetin (Capra ibex) of the Alps, now well-nigh extinct, is the typical representative of a group of wild goats characterised by the less scimitar-like and heavily knotted horns of the rams. So far as sportsmen are concerned, a much betterknown species is the Asiatic ibex (C. sibirica), known as Keyl in Kashmir, Skyn in Ladak; Danmo in Tibet, Buz on the Upper Sutlej, and Tangrol in Kulu.

The Asiatic ibex is found generally on high ground throughout Central Asia and the Himalaya from Gilgit to Nepaul.

It is best known to sportsmen from the large number of fine heads killed year by year in the hunting grounds of Kashmir, Baltistan, and the Tian Shan. Though it will be many years before the Kashmir ibex is killed out, there is no doubt that the modern rifle, and the modern shikari too, are gradually reducing the numbers of ibex in the best known and most available parts of Kashmir. Nullas which, thirty or forty years ago, were full of fine heads, are now hardly worth a visit, and to secure good heads the sportsman must push on to Baltistan, Shigar, Chilas, Gilgit, and elsewhere.

Ibex are not found on the south-western side of the Vale of Kashmir-though good heads come from the Hazara country, and the Gilgit district is said to be full of ibex and markhor. South-eastward the ibex extends from Kashmir and Baltistan through Ladak, Lahoul, Spiti, Kunawar, and Chumba, as far as the borders of Nepaul.

It is found on the higher ground of the HIMALAYAN IBEX.

Pamir region, in the Tian Shan, and in the mountains of the head waters of the Irtish; and in many other parts of Central Asia where the ground is suitable to its habits.

The general appearance of the Asiatic ibex is well known. Of a somewhat stout and heavy appearance, it is nevertheless extremely active, and possesses very sharp eyes and nose. A good buck ibex will stand some 40 inches at the shoulder, and with his massive, curving horns, and long, shaggy, black beard, is a noble beast to observe or to stalk. The horns have been known to reach a length of 573 inches and a girth of II inches; but such heads are ra rare. Anything over 40 inches may be considered a good head, and one of 45 is a prize that does not fall to every shikari.

Of course, the measuring tape is laid along the outside curve of the horn, but not run into the hollows between the knobs.

The female is an insignificant animal, with weak little horns of 9 or 12 inches in length. She has, however, a pair of eyes sharper, if possible, than the buck, and exhibits an exasperating patience in lying for hours on some commanding crag from HIMALAYAN IBEX. whence she may command the only approach accessible to the human enemy.

Ibex vary locally a good deal in colour, and upon this and other data naturalists have founded a number of sub-species, or local races, the names and characteristics of which it is unnecessary to record on this occasion. The Tian Shan race carries by far the biggest horns; while the Kashmir is characterised by its white saddle, and the Baltistan by its dark, almost black, colouring.

One of the most striking characteristics of the ibex is his smell. The writer has several bucks killed in 1883 and 1884, the heads of which are still redolent of the unmistakable aroma. In stalking ibex this quality is often of considerable assistance to the shikari. In the still, pure air of the high mountains there is no mistake about the proximity of ibex if the wind be in the right direction.

Ibex-stalking in Kashmir in the months of May and early June is most fascinating, although hard, work. An ibex nulla generally combines the finest features of mountain scenery. Wild and picturesque groups of fir and birch surround the rocky torrent in the valley bottom. Here and there a green patch provides a camping-ground. Right and left rise rugged cliffs and masses of rock and shale and snow, while at the head [IBEX of the valley gleams the dazzling whiteness of some mighty bulk of snow and ice. This is the home of the ibex, and if the sportsman is content to work hard and exercise self-control, he will sooner or later come to terms with some fine old bucks. "Make sure of the easy chances" is a maxim for stalkers in general; but in no case is it of such constant application as in that of ibex stalking. Ibex stick very hard to the same feeding grounds. The sportsman should, therefore, refrain from firing at doubtful chances and so disturbing the herd. Left to themselves they will be found again with tolerable certainty near the same spot, and in time they will be sure to take up a position where a more or less certain approach may be made. Ibex, when alarmed, prefer to move upwards, and by remembering this fact several shots may be obtained before they get out of range.

Ibex are not tough beasts to kill, and a bullet in the ribs generally brings them to bag. When wounded, an ibex almost always works up-hill till he dies, where his position is pretty surely indicated by a number of lämmergeiers and other birds wheeling constantly above the spot.

April, May, and early June are the months when most of the ibex are killed in Kashmir. After that date the higher ground is CAUCASIAN IBEX. open to them, and they are difficult to follow. In the rutting season at the end of October and in November they have been hunted with success. > IBEX] A third species is the wala or Abyssinian ibex (C. vali), a magnificent brown animal, with very heavy black horns, inhabiting the ABYSSINIAN IBEX or mountains of Simien. The beden Nubian ibex (C. nubiana) of Nubia, the Sinaitic Peninsula, and South Arabia, is, on the other hand, a slighter and lightercoloured species, with horns approximating to those of the Asiatic ibex, but with a narrower front surface. This species leads on to the wild goat (C. hircus agagrus) of Asia Minor and Persia, the Sind representative of which is commonly known among sportsmen as the Sind ibex, although it departs from the proper ibex type in the sharp front edge of the horns. Another member of the group is the Spanish ibex (C. pyrenaica), forming the subject of the second half of this article, and characterised by the somewhat spiral twist of the horns, which are not distinctly knotted. This species leads on to the so-called ture of the Caucasus, of which the foxy red western C. caucasica has horns approximating to the ibex type, whereas in the brown C. cylindricornis of the Eastern Caucasus these appendages approximate to those of the Himalayan bharal. S. H. WHITBREAD.

IN SPAIN. The splendid Spanish ibex (Capra pyrenaica) is seldom the object of the English sportsman's pursuit, yet Europe can show few finer trophies than the bearded head and massive horns of an old ram.

Such lack of attention may be accounted for in many ways, expense being perhaps the THE TATE LIBRARY, BRIXTON, S.W. main obstacle. Apart from this, however, to carry out a trip satisfactorily, a certain knowledge of Spanish, good lungs, and indomitable perseverance are essential to success. The game is not numerous, and the man is lucky indeed who succeeds in bagging an ibex without several days-indeed weeks of arduous labour. Spanish ibex are confined to four or five points, all in the highest mountain ranges of their native country, the two best known or rather least unknown to the Englishman, being the Pyrenees, and the Sierra lying along the Mediterranean coast, not far from Gibraltar. Their haunts in other sierras, and more especially in Gredos, have never, I believe, been visited by an English party except ourselves. In the majority of cases, the goats live exclusively among the barren rock-summits and crags (riccos) at elevations of 6,000 to 10,000 feet, only descending to lower levels under the stress of severe winters. There are, however, ibex in isolated Sierras of lesser altitudes, where they are found frequenting scrub and even forest. In all cases their habits are nocturnal, the day being spent either basking in the sun, or sheltering from its rays in precipices. some cave or crevice amid crags and The Spanish ibex, which is peculiar to the Peninsula, differs markedly from its Alpine congener in the form of the horns, which in the latter with annular knobs, while the Spanish goat's which in the latter are scimitar-shaped, horns show a spiral form, diverging outwards, then recurved backwards and upwards; with the rings (one for every year) following the oblique course of the spiral curve.

A head of 24 inches must be regarded heads with horns exceeding 29 inches suras more than a respectable trophy, while vive only in the Cordilleras of Central Spain.

The ibex ram is at his prime when ten years of age, but the horns continue to add extra rings for two or three years. The total weight of a ram (clean) is about nine to ten stone; the females are at least a third less in size, and have only rudimentary horns of some six or eight inches in length. The young are born in April and May, one, or more rarely two in number, and follow their dams from the first with surprising agility.

When alarmed, the ibex emits a shrill whistle, sometimes repeated several times.

The rutting season begins in November, the rams congregating during the preceding month, when (barring the possibility of early snowfalls) they often afford a favourable opportunity to the stalker. The lofty Risco Mansor, the highest point in the Sierra de Gregos, is the real home of these goats, towering as it does on three sides over the Laguna de Gredos, a gloomy little lake of unknown depth, by whose stony margin we had pitched our camp in August and September, 1896, after many hours of stiff climbing. As we could not go where SPANISH IBEX. the natives went without breaking our necks, we had recourse to drives, each "monteria" taking a whole day; the guns were placed in the small passes (portillas) of the giant ridges, dividing one valley from the next, and the beaters then brought up the whole country before them, the gun highest up having the best chance, as the goats when disturbed always make for the highest ground.

To our idea, however, too little attention was paid to wind, and indeed this negligence at a later date lost us a nice chance at a big ram. It was quite as much as we could do to reach these passes, for the distance we could travel in an hour was covered by the native in ten minutes, and by the ibex in thirty seconds. Yet perseverance was rewarded, and after a week's hard work we bagged three ibex between the two of us, one a very good head, while one of our [IBEX beaters secured a small one-year-old male.

We were lucky in having fine weather, as the lightning is terrible on these heights, and existence in our isolated position would have been unbearable in rainy weather, as there was absolutely no shelter. At night all the water in the camp froze solid, while at mid-day the heat reflected from the rocks was almost unbearable, yet we suffered no harm from the changes of temperature beyond the peeling of the skin from our faces.

We had twenty mountaineers with us from the tiny village beneath, some over sixty years of age, splendid specimens of agility and grace combined with strength, and in perfect condition. Curiously enough, only two or three of them had ever seen an ibex before; these exceptions being the professional hunters. The flesh is much esteemed and fetches a good price in the valley below. These men are continually after the ibex, and as they shoot male and female alike, are gradually exterminating them; indeed, only thirty years ago, there were large numbers, where now they have ceased to exist. All our beaters (among whom was the Alcalde of the village) wore hempen-soled shoes studded with nails with shilling-sized heads, which gave a perfect grip on the rock, though every evening they required renewing.

The striking peculiarity of the ibex-haunted crags was their extremely irregular outline and broken nature, rising against the deepblue sky, clear cut in saw-like ridges, or in monster pinnacles and spires like a cathedral; again, the line would be broken by deep rifts and dark crevasses. Below, by the lake, though not adjoining, were green grassy slopes, where our tent was pitched.

BERTRAM F. BUCK.

ICE YACHTING. - [See SAILING.] IRISH SPORT. - [See LOCAL SPORTS.] JACKAL HUNTING.—This sport is indulged in more by new comers or Griffins in India than by men of mature standing.

On arrival in the East one finds night made hideous by the unearthly yelling of these unclean beasts, which sally forth at night and prey on any offal they can find. Jackals differ greatly in various districts. In Assam, where the cattle plague is always more or less prevalent, they get so fat and sleek they can barely trot along. But in India, where food is scarcer, they take a good deal of killing.

Life in many stations in India is dreary JACKAL HUNTING] enough, and nobler sport is not to be obtained without obtaining leave, so a bobbery pack consisting of mongrels of all sorts is kept up and the jackal is hunted once or twice a week. Thursday, being the Suban open veranda, a mad jackal made a grab at the junction of my neck and back, but only inflicted a slight wound. Two people he bit a few seconds later both died of hydrophobia. A pony bitten by him BLACK-BACKED JACKAL. altern's Sunday or holiday, is generally chosen, and the meet takes place soon after dawn. When a jackal is viewed the curs are laid on, and if the jackal is in good fettle he will give a run of a mile or more before being overtaken. Overtaken I say advisedly; being killed is quite another thing. If a cat has nine lives, a jackal has a dozen.

I have seen one to all intents and purposes as dead as a door nail, yet, after the departure of the hunters and pack, he will open first one eye, then the other, get up quietly, and sneak away. Jackals often run to earth if they come across holes big enough to admit them, and often live in drains and other unseemly places. To hunt them with greyhounds is no sport, as they are overhauled at once. Spearing them is better fun, for they twist and double as well as, if not better than, a hare, and seek refuge in any fissure or hollow big enough to hold them. It is better not to course them with valuable dogs, as I have known more than once a dog's leg to be bitten and broken by a hunted jackal; and as they live on the most putrid flesh their bite is always dangerous, and a mad jackal is not a rarity. Once when I was sleeping on the floor in went mad six months after the occurrence, and had to be destroyed.

In old sporting books there is often mentioned a jackal with a peculiar cry which is called the pheeal. Some have asserted that it is made by a different variety of jackal JACKAL.

Valawell from the ordinary one whose cry I have before mentioned. The pheeal is not often heard; but there is no doubt that the peculiar cry is uttered by the common jackal when suddenly frightened. As the yelping of a cur when chastised or alarmed differs from its ordinary bark, so the cry of the pheeal is only heard when the jackal is alarmed. Twice have I heard it: once when [Photo. by W. S. Berridge, F.Z.S.

BLACK-BACKED JACKAL. a leopard sprang at a jackal which was helping itself to the remains of a goat slain by the former, and once when a tiger put in a sudden appearance under similar circumstances; and again when General Blake was watching over a cow killed by a tiger, with a Mr. Barry, a tiger trotted up and interfered with the proceedings of the jackal, which went off with its tail between its legs, uttering the cry of the pheeal.

F. T. POLLOK.

JAGUAR (Felis onca). The Jaguar inhabits certain portions of the American continent extending from the Southern States of North America through Mexico, Central America, and Brazil to Paraguay. It is a fierce, untamable beast, nearly resembling a leopard in general character. The spots or rosettes are, however, larger, and more symmetrically arranged, each group consisting of a ring of well-defined spots enclosing a space somewhat darker in tint than the ground-colour, and generally showing smaller spots, although the latter also occur in certain Asiatic leopards.

Black jaguars exist, but are not very common; those that live in gloomy forests are far darker than those found in more open country.

The skull differs from that of other large cats in the presence of a well-marked tubercle near the middle of the inner side of the socket of the eye. The total average length of a jaguar is from 6 to 7½ feet, of which the tail occupies about 2 feet 2 inches. [JACKAL HUNTING The jaguar is a noisy animal, roaring by night, especially before bad weather. Like other cats, it delights to sharpen its claws on the bark of certain trees. It rears itself up and, pressing the breast against the trunk, claws at the bark on either side. A common method of ascertaining if a jaguar is in the neighbourhood is to examine the trunks of the trees. Tigers and leopards have a similar habit in India. The object of the practice is to tear off the ragged ends of the claws, and not, as is generally supposed, to sharpen them. The favourite haunt of the tiger in the hot season is a cool sheltered portion of a jhil, and the jaguar not only delights in water, but actually, when hard pressed for food, will wade into streams and with a dexterous pat scoop out passing fish on to the bank and devour them at leisure. It is to a great extent arboreal in habit, and an adept at climbing, and by means of its claws alone will run up the smooth bark of a tree devoid of branches to a considerable height. When hunted it takes refuge in trees, and this habit is well known to hunters, who pursue it with dogs and shoot it when in the branches.

Some jaguars from Mexico have the small spots, which ordinarily constitute the rings, at a considerable distance from one another, so that complete rings or rosettes of spots only occasionally appear.

The jaguar is found even in the Pampas, a place totally unfitted to its ordinary habits; but it may have been tempted by the abundance of mammalian prey to colonise that cold, treeless, and comparatively barren tract. The cry of the jaguar cannot be described as a roar; it is loud, deep, and hoarse, and JAGUAR. has been compared to a series of repetitions of the syllables "pu, pu, pu." From two to four cubs are produced at a birth towards the end of the year. JAGUAR] The mode of hunting jaguars differs in accordance with the seasons and the locality.

During floods, especially along the banks of the Parana River, the hunters proceed in boats, searching for the claw-marks, and so soon as they discover a forest which these cats inhabit, some watch, whilst others of the party make a circuit with a few dogs.

When the animal is started, they follow in hot pursuit. If the ground is sufficiently open, they use the lasso; otherwise, they drive it up a tree and surround it with the dogs, whilst the hunters with the guns THE TATE LIBRARY, BRIXTOR, S.W. that follow the jaguar; they annoy it by their constant yelping, and often give warning to its prey. The cause of the enmity between the puma and the jaguar is a mystery. Where the capibara is plentiful, there is ample food for both; but, odd to say, though the puma is an animal considerably inferior in size and power, it is the persistent persecutor of the jaguar, following it about, and when an opportunity occurs, springing upon its back and inflicting terrible wounds with teeth and claws.

JAGUAR. alawell come up. Often the similarity of the markings between the foliage of the forest and the jaguar puzzles the huntsman, as the animal crouches along a branch heavily fringed with leaves. Even if shot dead, it often remains pendent for a considerable time. Now and then, if only slightly wounded, and at no great height, it drops down on to the men and dogs and dies fighting. When encountered in open and ridable ground, it has no chance, and is easily lassoed, and if once, so hunted, it manages to escape, its dread of the lasso is so great that it has been known to prefer being suffocated by fire rather than face its enemies armed with that instrument.

It is generally affirmed that tigers are accompanied by jackals, and doubtless those unclean beasts follow for the sake of any offal they may collect off the remains of their larder, but they remain silent until their feast begins. Not so with the foxes As there are man-eaters among leopards and tigers in India, so there are man-eating jaguars; and when the country is flooded, and their food, in the choice of which they are not particular, difficult to procure, they often prey upon men, preferring the black to the European. They often kill more than they can eat, and out of a party of thirteen men which accompanied a friend of mine, three were killed in one night.

It is also curious that while the flesh of the puma is considered a delicacy, that of the jaguar is never eaten, except under dire necessity. The flesh of the puma tastes like veal, while that of the jaguar is rank to a degree, yet both animals are carnivorous.

The following extracts from a journal in my possession may be interesting :- "Later on in the day, as we passed a heavy bush, a jaguar sprang upon one of the men's horses, embracing him and fastening his jaws in the poor brute's windpipe; down came horse and man. I sprang down and was going to the man's assistance when our headman galloped past as hard as his horse could go, and, shortening his bolas as he swept by, gave the jaguar a blow that could be heard a long way off. I thought the brute's head must have been broken in two, but after it had struggled for a moment on its back, and was just clear of the horse, the same man returned at full speed, cast the bolas with unerring aim, and had the jaguar entangled and helpless, and, in a few minutes, more than half strangled.

Two men dismounting soon put an end to the struggling animal. The horse was dead in a few minutes, for his jugular had been severed. The jaguar measured 7 feet 3 inches in length. On another occasion I had just entered the forest from the river bank, and had not penetrated far when I saw a jaguar stalking some animal, so I stepped behind a tree and waited events.

As the brute passed through some longish grass, I saw some animal spring on to the jaguar's back; over they rolled, and in a moment the assailant had cleared itself and disappeared. The jaguar rose foaming from the mouth, and, as nothing further was to be expected, I put a bullet through his head. My people hearing the shot hurried up, and, on examination, we found the beast's back badly scored and bitten.

The men said at once that it had been done by a puma; but, though I searched everywhere, I failed to find it." In parts of South America the Indians kill jaguars by means of a blowpipe and poisoned arrows. The poison used is the ourali. They kill even the tapir with these tiny darts. The poison does not affect the meat; the portion round the wound is cut off and the rest eaten. takes place in a quarter of an hour, but within a few minutes the animal becomes drowsy, seems to be in no pain, and expires quietly and gradually.

Death F. T. POLLOK.

JOCKEY CLUB. - [See RACING.] KANGAROOS. - When English attention was first directed to the peculiar flora and fauna of Australasia, their novelty was the chief occasion for comment and curiosity. They were interesting because they were unlike anything in our previous experience. But science soon learnt to dwell on the real antiquity of much that seemed so new. Observers and inquirers were not long, for instance, in noting that the cycad known as Zamia spiralis, so frequent in the [JAGUAR neighbourhood of Sydney, is akin to some of the earliest forms of fossil vegetation.

The Port Jackson shark (Cestracion phillipi), with its curious rasp-like rollers for crushing shell-fish, also claims kindred with some of the fossil fishes of the Jurassic period.

The kangaroos of Australia, forming the genus Macropus of naturalists, are so closely mixed up with modern pastoral interest that I hold myself at liberty to speak of them only from the squatter's point of view. They are, in fact, formidable enemies to the vast wool-gathering interest which maintains, I think, something like forty sheep for every man, woman, and child in Australia. They have, moreover, been greatly favoured by local changes. The "black-fellows" who were clever in killing them, have become a pitiful remnant, unless in the extreme North West. The warrigals or dingoes-the half-wild dogs which helped to keep them as well as the sheep down-have become very scarce, baits seasoned with strychnine having disagreed with them. Perhaps, too, station life has become more purely a matter of business, and is less seasoned with sport than in the Baldwell KANGAROO. days when my long circuits were enlivened by an occasional halt at some hospitable mansion, where the kangaroo dogs were an institution. Quite apart from the question KANGAROOS] وو of keeping down the kangaroo population, the chasse is of peculiar interest and well worth witnessing. In the case of the great grey kangaroo (Macropus gigantius) and its immediate relatives, the speed attained by the quarry in a regular succession of bounds, which forms the mode of progress, is sometimes extraordinary, particularly when the lighter limbed female is the fugitive. I have known an "old man cover 19 feet at each bound for full half a mile, but his pace was not particularly fast. Moreover, the male is somewhat pugnacious, and often, instead of doing his best to escape, is meditating reprisals on the dogs. If he reach a convenient water-hole, especially one affording a tree against which he can lean his back, they may catch a Tartar. Short as are his fore legs, his hug is formidable, and if his position be such that he can keep his balance, while lifting up a muscular hind leg, his strong horny toe cuts like a knife, and goes near to bisect his enemy. The same thing often happens when an eager young dog catches and throws his game, but receives a kick which is almost equal to that of a horse. The flying doe, however, as the adult female is termed, has no purpose of showing fight, but only tries to escape by speed. I have never had the opportunity of measuring her successive bounds sand, but believe they average full 20 feet.

I remember pressing one very hard over level ground, when well mounted and with a brace of excellent dogs. I counted on a kill, but just when she seemed to be outpaced, she took from her pouch a "joey," about the size of a large cat, and tossed it away from her line of flight. From that moment she left dogs and horses behind, went straight away, and doubtless, after tiring out her pursuers, duly retrieved her bantling. Indeed, the number of kangaroos coursed and fairly run down cannot be great. A few are shot, a very light charge sufficing if they are hit along the course of the spine; but dogs and guns are merely palliatives to a great evil. on When we consider that there are something like a hundred and ten millions of sheep in British Australia, an army of rival graziers must be dealt with wholesale.

And this is done by a grand drive, generally, I think, in the direction of Port Fairy, lying to the extreme south of Victoria at the end of an extensive range of valuable sheep pasture. A long double line of fencing opening to a great width inland, but converging as it nears the coast, is constructed to receive the driven kangaroos. The principle is the same as that adopted by the Indian Government in the construction of the keddas for the capture of wild [Photo. by W. S. Berridge, F.Z.S.

KANGAROO. elephants. A sort of funnel of fencing is, in fact, erected, wide open inland, but narrowing gradually as it approaches the spot fixed for the final capture. It will, however, be seen from the immense numbers of the game to be enclosed, that the scale of this kangaroo-trap is vastly greater than anything that can be required in the taking of elephants. There is another difference very distressing, if we must not say cruel, to the driven kangaroos.

The enclosure in which the elephants are finally secured is made strong, that there may be no risk of the captives breaking out, and a mighty barrier of timber is opposed to their attempts at escape, backed by a show of fire wherever a sally appears to be threatened, and by the trained manœuvres of tame elephants, who mingle with the wild ones, and subdue them one by one, by the joint action of force and guile. But the enclosure into which the kangaroos find themselves finally driven is formed, not to capture and subdue, but simply to destroy them. They descend in their thousands, down a treacherous slope into a deep hollow, from which, as from the lion's den in the fable, there are no backward tracks.

They are there simply to be killed. One would like to know what provision, if any, is made for utilising the carcases of the victims. Kangaroo skins make excellent leather, and I remember "in my hot youth when George the Fourth was king," fancying that boots made of it were elegant as well as comfortable. Then there is a great amount of human food available where kangaroos are slaughtered by the thousands.

The tails alone, sometimes very heavy, supply a soup equal to ox-tail, and ought to sell well among tinned meats. A halfgrown kangaroo also supplies excellent cutlets taken lengthwise from the large muscle on each side of the spine, quite equal to those sliced from blue hares after shooting a Highland hill. on There are three large species of kangaroo the continent of Australia specially worthy of the sportsman's notice. First there is the great red forester (M.rufus), which I have seen standing erect not less than 7 feet high. Next in size comes the aforesaid grey or "blue" species, more particular about its pasture, and thus a worse enemy to the sheep owner. Thirdly there is the wallaroo (M. autolopinus), a dark, rough-haired inhabitant of craggy hills, heavier in the arms and shoulders than the other two, and rather like a bear when seen erect against a background of rock. I have toiled to get a specimen, but was baffled by the "old men." Once I succeeded in shooting a doe, but only recognised her species on the authority of a naturalist. She was a smooth, blue creature, weighing only 12 or 13 lb. In fact, throughout the kangaroo tribe the male has an immense superiority in bulk and strength, though decidedly inferior in speed, even allowing for the combative temper which often inclines him to imprudent resistance. I knew a case near Wagga Wagga where a heavy "old man" turned on two mounted pursuers, and leapt up successively behind their saddles, tearing their coats nearly off their backs, and utterly scaring their horses. a Every species of kangaroo, when grazing, may be said to walk with his powerful tail, which he bends under him as a lever to lift his hind quarters gently forward. But when it comes to a question of jumping, he keeps it carefully off the ground, flourishing it aloft with an effect which in a large mob looks highly comical.

I believe, however, that this flourish has some useful result in steering his course.

Be that as it may, he is most careful when hunted to keep it high and dry; if once draggled, it shortens his stride and cripples his pace. It was my ill fortune to be travelling on duty during the heaviest rain I ever encountered even in Australia. A fall of fifteen inches within three days had laid the grand level expanse of the "Old Man Plain" under water, and I saw before me a drive of more than twenty miles through ১ [KANGAROOS an inland sea. On the last slope of the higher pasture-land which I was reluctantly leaving I saw a huge male kangaroo in utterly helpless plight, crawling rather than hopping, while his tail dragged piteously through the wet grass like a rope trailed behind a vessel to check her speed. A lady's lap-dog could have overtaken him.

Thus, when I claim for the kangaroo-and especially for the stately red forester-a wonderful "turn of speed," I do so " with proviso and exception" on several grounds.

He-or rather she, for the ladies are the fast sex-must not be called on to cross a wet meadow, or to scale a rocky slope, or even to travel at high speed across a level thickly strewn with loose stones, where the troop make much clatter but small way.

From one hindrance or another, kangaroos seldom run "their level best," and can rarely stand long before dogs of the right breed, wire-haired, hard-footed, long in the stride, and in all essentials identical with the noble Scotch deer-hound. The smaller kangaroos and wallabies form a still more numerous tribe, of which even the names cannot be recorded here, these being followed by the yet smaller kangaroo rats, with several species. ?

P H. R. FRANCIS.

KANGAROO-SHOOTING. - The kangaroos and wallabies, which, if not perhaps the typical, are at any rate the most widely known of the great marsupial sub-class to which they belong, are, however interesting they may be to the student of the mammalia, familiar to the colonial chiefly as a plague to the stock-owner. The larger kinds, those in particular which frequent the plains, move so rapidly from place to place, and are so insatiable in their appetite, that they quickly over-run whole districts, their scissor-like front teeth cropping the herbage so close as to leave no meal for anything superior to a rat.

To cope with this evil, farmers in those parts organise drives on a generous scale, in which the flying beasts are done to death in their thousands, either hunted with kangaroo-dogs in the more sporting fashion described above by Mr. Francis, or driven in dense masses into enclosed stockades and there butchered with anything that comes handy - shot SO long as the cartridges hold out, clubbed with the butt afterwards. 11.3 The visitor, however, who seeks in the course of his colonial experiences as much sport as can be got out of the pursuit of such timorous, inoffensive game, will elect some less wholesale means of finding his KANGAROOS] kangaroos, and, if he does not object to penetrating as far as the back blocks-the vast flocks of other days have long since deserted the neighbourhood of the populous centres-there is the choice of stalking most of the larger kinds in the plains (no easy performance for anyone out of condition), or seeking the red kangaroo and smaller wallabies among the rocky boulders, that, to the wonderment of the new arrival from England, strew the landscape in every direction.

Rock Kangaroos and Wallabies. The shooting of these animals among the rocks is a simple matter, and may be dismissed in few words. It is scarcely necessary for purposes of the present article to enumerate the dozen or more species found in such rocky country, beasts ranging in weight from 200 lb. down to 20, their measurement from nose to root of tail varying between 60 inches and 30. What chiefly concerns those who would find them is the marvellous protective colouring with which, without exception, they are endowed. So closely indeed do the tints of many harmonise with their surroundings that I have more than once, when stalking one herd upwind, all but trodden on the outposts of another squatting motionless among the rocks. This similarity of colouring to the background is not perhaps shared, to quite Caldwell 1897 WALLABY. the same degree, by the kangaroos of the plains, though there is at first some little difficulty in descrying them at even a short range on the sand, no unusual framing. in that parched continent.

With the cover afforded by the rocks, there should be, at any rate where the beasts are plentiful, no great difficulty in bagging them; and it is amusing to take note of the strange miscellany of firearms that are taken out for the purpose. Shooting is a far more rough and ready affair in the Australian colonies than at home, subject to no restrictions and hedged by few etiquettes. Neither gun- nor gamelicences trammel the sportsman, or neither w were at any rate enforced when I was there, in consequence of which only those were prevented from shooting who could not muster some kind of gun. These were few indeed, and the members of the party usually turned up with as many kinds of weapon, from the newly imported 303 Magazine rifle (the weapon I would above all counsel for the work) down to the duck-gun and even the "converted rifle," a formidable article which I believe the Government sold for a few shillings, and which threw a good foot to the right or left when fired. Owing largely, no doubt, to the antiquity of some of the battery, as well as the carelessness with which they were handled, there was invariably a competition for last place in the file.

The procedure depended upon whether most enjoyable, as also the most productive, we were shooting over dogs by far the style. Without dogs, everyone crept away on his own beat and blazed at everything that came within range. If there were dogs, however, each gun was allotted a position near some high rock, and the hounds) were sent on ahead by a circuitous route and then drove the frightened beasts back past the guns. It depended on the nature of the country whether the rifle or shotgun had the better time of it: in the general way, the chances lay with the former, but) when, as occasionally happened, the rocks were very close together, the shot-gun got a hurried shot at a flying wallaby close at hand and a few pellets brought it down.

No beasts of the same size-few, indeed, irrespective of size take less killing, and a blow from the handle of a stockwhip is sufficient to kill a doe of the largest dimensions. As the wallabies are keen-sighted, all that is necessary, when waiting for the dogs to drive them past, is to remain motionless and in readiness to take a potshot at the shortest notice, for these creatures are as silent in their movements as they are swift, and only at the moment of their coming within close range are the rhythmic beats of their hind feet audible.

Stalking in the Plains. - Without the aid of the cover of rocks, and, as often as not, in the full glare of a sun that can, even in mid-winter, make itself felt to the European at an early hour of the morning, the pursuit of the kangaroo, in which there is no danger to attract and but the very poorest skin by way of trophy, is not likely to recommend itself except for the one trial necessary to all new experiences. A moment's contem- WALLABY. [KANGAROOS! larly in the immediate neighbourhood of rivers, beside which, for example, when their steamer is taking in cargo, those who visit the colonies have most of their opportunities for kangaroo shooting. The islands that a prolonged drought: unites to the mainland are excellent kangaroo ground, but, on the other hand, their soil is most treacherous, and, as already mentioned, a single tropical rain of only a few hours' duration is sufficient to convert a plain as hard as iron to a quicksand capable of swallowing, or at any rate detaining, both the kangaroos and their pursuers.

The shrieking ibis, which are flushed at every dozen yards, especially in the late summer, are also a great nuisance to the stalker, though, mercifully, the kangaroo. sometimes pays no attention to their warning cries.

The 303 Magazine rifle has already been recommended for the work, and it would, in fact, be hard to beat.

On the natural history of the kangaroos and wallabies, of unequalled interest among mammals to the biologist, it is unnecessary to dwell in any detail. The earlier fables in respect of their reproduction have long since been refuted; and we now know that the young one is born a month or two after Christmas, after a very short period of gestation (and without any pre-natal connection with the dam) in a perfectly helpless condition; is conveyed by its mother to her pouch immediately after birth, and is there nourished, the milk being pumped down its throat, until able to shift for itself, which it does in the course of ten months. plation of the larger kangaroos, even in captivity or the museum, will suffice to convince the visitor that such creatures, tall, with large eyes and sensitive ears to acquaint them with all that is going on around, without any means of defence (except the powerful hind nail) to encourage indifference to danger, and with a rapid and eccentric mode of progression by leaps that in the larger species cover twenty feet at the least, are by no means the easiest to stalk, nor does the aforementioned resemblance of their colouring to that of the sandy earth make matters simpler. Even when there is a strong wind blowing, there are often unforeseen complications, not the least among which is the sudden change in its direction so characteristic of at all events the North Queensland plains, where I have followed these beasts by the hour, or maybe the abrupt appearance of a morass, the result of an overnight downpour, that either causes a sudden disturbance and the consequent warning of the kangaroo, or a détour of such a nature as to make it impossible to keep the game to windward. As they take the scent as quickly as most browsing SPORTS.] animals, a moment is fatal, and in a few leaps they once more put between them and their pursuers as much ground as gained in the previous half hour's stalk. was It is necessary to lay stress on the importance of a thorough acquaintance with the ground to be gone over, more particu- The kangaroos, indeed the marsupials generally, are the most primitive type of mammals, Nature's earlier attempts at fashioning the now predominant class. They cannot, however, be said to furnish sport of a very high order, although those who visit the colonies will scarcely miss an opportunity of experiencing the novelty of shooting at quadrupeds that leap more after the fashion of frogs than of any other living creature.

F. G. AFLALO.

KNUR AND SPEIL.-[See LOCAL KUDU. - The Kudu (Strepsiceros KUDU. kudu), though surpassed in size of body by the eland, may fairly be regarded as the handsomest of all the antelope family. Its great spiral horns form a trophy of which 1 KUDU] every hunter, who has the chance, desires to become possessed. So keenly is this noble animal pursued, that there is, in the writer's opinion, danger of its ultimate extinction unless the great Powers who are colonising Africa are mindful of their obligations in this respect, and provide sanctuaries for its preservation, or make stringent rules against the excessive slaughter of the bulls by sportsmen. The females very rarely carry horns, and therefore, except for meat, do not offer the same temptation as the males. The northern limit of the kudu is the river Atbara in the Italian Abyssinian colony. From this point southward it is found throughout East Africa as far as the Transvaal, wherever the nature of the ground is suited to its habits. It almost invariably frequents dense thorny scrub, and it generally affects the sides of ravines, or steep and lofty mountains, so long as these are not barren.

Living in such jungle, the kudu relies chiefly on the acuteness of its hearing for protection. Consequently it is endowed with immense ears, comparable to those of the elk in the northern hemisphere, which is an animal similarly protected, and for the same reason. In searching for the kudu it is these large leaf-like ears, fully ten inches in length, which first catch the eye, and which, together with the handsome fringe of hair on the throat, helped to give it its air of distinction and intelligence. The colour of the skin resembles that of the pale dun breed of Jersey cows, but white vertical stripes on its flanks, and crescent marks between the eyes, in imitation of the lines and patches of light in a thicket, help to break up and render invisible the expanse of grey hide. The animal, which is as large as a fourteen-hand horse, would otherwise be too readily discovered by its enemies.

From Ward's Horn Measurements it would appear that the longest heads have all been brought from south of the Equator.

The horns gradually diminish in size as more northern latitudes are reached. The writer obtained a bull in Somaliland whose horns taped fifty-two inches following the curve, and forty inches from tip to tip, and these measurements have rarely been exceeded in that country, whereas many heads of sixty inches have been obtained in South Africa, and one of sixty-three inches. On the other hand, no recorded heads from Abyssinia reach fifty inches.

Unlike many of the African antelopes, the kudu is a tolerably frequent drinker, and, except in the rainy season, when his food contains abundance of moisture, VOL. III must be sought within a few miles of water.

It aims at escaping by concealment, rather than by fleetness of foot, and it is said that a kudu desiring to escape observation will lie almost as close as a rabbit when it knows itself to be well hidden, and will allow a man to pass within a few yards without moving. The alarm note is a "bark," somewhat like that emitted by a red hind, KUDU. but louder. It is generally the females who give the warning signal. A thin-skinned and tender animal, the kudu does not, like the oryx, carry away much lead. The first bull I saw offered a long running shot, and I consequently hit him far back. Finding the blood spoor, I insisted, much to my Somali's disgust, on giving him time, always the most prudent course in such circumstances. When we did ultimately take up the line, we found that he had not travelled more than 150 yards after receiving the shot. Almost any other antelope with such a wound would have got clean away. My largest bull, above referred to, fell instantly to a single 256 Mannlicher bullet. But I must not be understood to recommend that weapon, admirable as it is in the open, for an animal which may require to be tracked in thicket and over strong ground. In H such a case, where the blood track is all important, a rifle which will inflict a larger wound should be used.

No description in words can convey an impression of this animal, its habits and surroundings, so vivid as Mr. Millais' admirable drawings in A Breath from the Veldt. To those who have the good for tune to possess that work, I commend the careful study of the pictures in pen and pencil of that close observer and good sportsman. I may sum up his impressions of the kudu in his own words. "The sable will stand and stare at you, quite close sometimes, as much as to say, Who the devil are you?' The kudu will creep under the shadow of a bush and hope to goodness gracious you won't notice him, but the roan will say good morning' as soon as he sees you." Mr. Selous' works should also be consulted on the habits of this animal and the conditions for hunting it successfully.

For kudu hunting in Somaliland, the chapter in Captain Swayne's work dealing with this subject is full of suggestive observation. He remarks that the hunter who secures one good head in a fortnight's hard work in the mountains may consider him self fortunate. It must be remembered that the best kudu ground in that country, namely the Golis range and Gadabursi Mountains, is now comprised within the limits of the area reserved for the use of the Aden garrison. Some information with regard to the animal in Abyssinia may be derived from Baker's Nile Tributaries, and Life with the Hamran Arabs, by Myers.

THE LESSER KUDU (Strepsiceros imberbis) is almost identical in appearance with the greater animal of the same name, but is on a far smaller scale, its size being less than that of a fallow deer. Its dorsal and flank stripes are more sharply defined, and it has two crescent marks on the throat, which are wanting in the typical species.

The white, semi-transparent points of the dark horns are another special characteristic. This antelope has the most refined and high-bred air of all African animals, and a well-mounted head is a trophy to be coveted for its intrinsic beauty.

This kudu has a much more restricted habitat than its larger congener. Unlike the latter, in my experience, it avoids steep ground, and is to be found in valleys or flat plains at the base of mountains, but always in thick covert. Wherever the low, pointed aloe abounds, or the green fleshyleaved ergin, there may the Godir, to quote the native name, be sought, with good hope of success, always provided that it is not [LACROSSE too far removed from water. The hunter who desires success must be gifted with great keenness of vision and quickness of hand and eye, for it is generally a question of a snapshot or none at all. The writer, who is deficient in the above qualities, allowed several good males to escape him, either by failing to see them in time, or by egregious bad shooting, before he annexed a fair specimen. This kudu seems to have the instinct to stand or feed always in the shadow. Once aroused, there is one flashing bound over a bush, his white tail waving a parting flick, and, unless this brief opportunity be seized, he is not likely to afford another chance. Notwithstanding the difficulties attending the chase of this watchful beast, large numbers are killed by Midgans, or low caste Somalis, who use only a bow and poisoned arrows, but are expert and patient hunters.

E. N. BUXTON. a LACROSSE. - History. - Catlin and other early travellers amongst the North American Indians found the game a firmly established institution, and the seriousness with which preparations for a great game between tribe and tribe would be undertaken, and the fierceness with which the play was conducted, were second only to actual warfare. The preliminaries of contest commenced at midnight with processions of the two tribes from their entrenchments to the spot in the prairie selected for the encounter. The players, several hundreds in number, then assembled at their respective goals, and solemnly danced round them to the accompaniment of much shouting and yelling and beating of sticks. These performances were repeated at every half-hour throughout the night, and although they cannot be recommended as ideal methods of preparation for a lengthy and strenuous game, it is nevertheless recorded that the contesting braves were keenly eager for the fray when the appointed hour arrived for commencing the match. This was usually fixed for nine o'clock in the morning, and the conflict continued until sundown-presumably with intervals. It does not follow, however, that there were any prearranged stoppages, and none are mentioned, for with such huge sides and each man running and fighting for himself, quite regardless of opponents, and with no other thought than of somehow getting the ball (a tightly bound bundle of raw hide) to the other end of the one or two miles' course, the compulsory defections were necessarily plentiful, and frequently they were permanent. In the course of the LACROSSE] description of one of the games he witnessed, Catlin says: "In these desperate struggles for the ball (when hundreds are running together and leaping, actually over each other's heads, and darting between their adversaries' legs, tripping and throwing, and foiling each other in every possible manner, and every voice raised to the highest key in shrill yelps and barks) there are rapid successions of feats and of incidents that astonish and amuse far beyond the conception of anyone who has not had the good luck to witness them." also because the quality of game that is being played has reached such a high standard. English players believe that they amateurs of America, Australia, South are able to contend successfully with the Africa, or Canada, and are keen to have their faith put to the test.

Amid the many fluctuations that the game has experienced in England-the coming and the going of temporarily successful clubs, such as Liverpool and Clapton, its The womenfolk were the prime instigators of these meetings. Large stakes in kind (goods and chattels, knives, dresses, blankets, dogs, and horses and guns) were risked upon the issue of the game, and it was they who settled all such details, and who were privileged to urge their husbands on to increased exertions by the application of switches to their backs. The game was generally known as "ball game," but this title was not universal among the tribes, and the implements used for carrying and throwing the ball also varied materially.

These implements usually consisted of stick with a circular or loop-shaped head, having a diameter of from three to four inches, and this portion, the only part strung with gut, was thus just large enough to hold the ball. The Choctaw tribe, and possibly others, carried two such sticks, and the ball K being secured in one of them, the other was clapped over it like a lid before the holder proceeded to charge his opponents.

As the Indians became tame and sought the shelter of the towns, they brought their game with them. The white populations were not slow to take to "ball-game," and they evolved from it lacrosse as it is known to-day. They also fashioned an implement that closely resembles the modern crosse, though the expert will notify many differences in detail between the old and the new.

It was during the period when the white player began to compete with some success against Indian teams that England was first invaded, but, although spasmodic attempts to establish the game here followed the visits of 1876, it was not until 1883 that real success in this direction was achieved. Its progress in this country has been remarkably slow; frequently it has halted, and at others it has apparently dwindled to nothingness, but visits from the Toronto Club in 1888 and in 1902 quite revived the waning interest. and to-day it is possible to say that English lacrosse is really flourishing. This is so not only because its clubs and its adherents are steadily increasing in number in the North, the South, and the West, but a ১০০ 50 A CHOCTAW INDIAN BALL GAME (LACROSSE) PLAYER. [This drawing is taken from Catlin's North American Indians, kindly lent by C.

M. Stuart, Esq., M.A., Headmaster of St.

Dunstan's College.] rising and ultimate disappearance in districts countries such as Scotland and Irelandsuch as Sheffield and Brighton, and in there stands out prominently the remarkable constancy of Cambridge University and the traordinary because it has lived without the Leys School. This loyalty is the more exincentive of opposition and support from the quarters to which such teams customarily look. twenty years before Oxford appeared in the Cambridge played lacrosse for field, and so far the game has not been taken up by any school of equal standing to The Leys. The chief credit for the adoption of the game at those places is due to Mr. C. J.

Isard (the bursar of The Leys), and he was one of the founders of the C.U.L.C., and one of the members of its first team. the chief of them being the absence of "off Although the main features of the game, side," remain just as heretofore, its char- H2 acter has altered considerably within the last ten years. Originally it was made up of long throws, long runs, frequent dodges, and quite deliberate shooting, together with a considerable amount of slow and "lobby" passing; the long throw has disappeared for all practical purposes, speedy running remains an important essential, but the runners' steps are better directed, dodging is less general and is not so pronounced in action, hard shooting is still indulged in with success, but the majority of goals scored nowadays are due to the skilful finishing "flip" put to an equally skilful bout of rapid passing. All these are qualities that have improved the game very considerably, but they are as nothing when compared with the advance that has been made by the general body of players in the ability with which they catch and pass the ball. The passing is much swifter; it is no longer a soft and somewhat aimless lob, but is directed promptly and speedily to its intended recipient; and the catching is much surer. It used to be urged that lacrosse could never become popular because of the difficulties encountered by the novice in the elementary stages the throwing, the catching, and the picking up; but this view is quite changed, and although it is more necessary than ever for a player to be master of his crosse, just as it is imperative for a cricketer to have complete control of his bat, the implement now placed in his hands renders accomplishment a comparatively easy matter if practice is not ignored. Implements of the Game. These consist of the lacrosse (La Croix, the Bishop's Crozier, is the origin of the name), the ball, and the goals.

The Lacrosse. In England this title is abbreviated to Crosse. It is the implement with which the ball is played, and its legal definitions and limitations are set out in the first of the laws of the game attached hereto. It is made of wood (hickory for choice), and is strung with strips of hide and clock gut; the former is used for the length strings, and the latter for the meshing. In some cases the entire stringing is of hide, and then the meshing is of finer quality than the length strings. What is known as the leading string forms the lefthand side of the crosse (see illustrations below). A piece of hide is drawn through a hole at the extreme left-hand top corner (known as the tip), and then through another hole at the point where the handle commences (the collar). These two strands are united by three or four uprights of twisted hide, and a third length string is introduced between them. In this way a [LACROSSE stiff wall of hide is erected to assist in keeping the ball on the crosse, which is sometimes higher than the wooden backbone on the other side. Players will be well advised to undo these leading strings where they are tied up at the collar after every game, and especially after the crosse has been used in wet and muddy weather. By this means As used by Canadian and English pioneers in 1876 and later.

THE CROSSE.

The present day. alone can the correct shape of the wood be maintained, for the tendency of the comparatively slender bend at the top right-hand corner to give way-frequently to splinter and break-is much assisted by the continuous strain of the tightened leading strings. It is also necessary to clean both the stick and the gutting, and to anoint the whole of the crosse with salad oil, or any waterproof concoction that will not stiffen the gutting. The object of this dressing is to give both the durability and the suppleness that are so necessary. The altered construction of the crosse of late years is responsible for the advance the game has made, and a little consideration of the two models given will explain this.

The backbone in the 1876 shape was no LACROSSE] more than half an inch high, the meshing was quite taut, and the leading string barely half an inch above the flat meshing. With such an implement in his hands, the wouldbe player found it extremely difficult to retain possession of the ball, and he succeeded in doing so only by the exercise of the most accurate balance, which could not be obtained without weeks of patient practice. The shape of crosses varied in after years and more nearly approached those in use to-day; the backbone and the leader both grew in height-occasionally to absurd proportions-but the rigid adherence to the law that compelled the meshing to be quite taut was always a bugbear to the novice.

It was not until 1902, when the Toronto Club paid its third visit, that English players discovered that the taut meshing had been abolished in Canada, and, in readily adopting the innovation, they wondered how it was that they had put up with the old, quite unnecessary, and quite absurd conditions for so long. The modern crosse is a beautifully balanced instrument, and its handling rapidly becomes a fascinating pleasure.

The Ball. See Law 2. It should be added that a white ball has been tried, but has hitherto proved to be too hard and too heavy. A suitable white ball would be welcomed by both players and spectators, particularly when mud and murkiness prevail. The Goals. These are fully described in Law 3.

Originally they consisted solely of two posts six feet high and six feet apart, with a line drawn between them, and one method of scoring was to pass the ball through from behind, to have it knocked back again whilst the unfortunate goalkeeper had his crosse checked by a third opponent. The arrival of goal nets was contemporary with that of a goal crease, which has frequently varied in its size, and more particularly in the conditions surrounding its uses. Only this season fresh regulations have been framed (see Law 10, Section 13).

The Players. Twelve players constitute a team, and they are divided roughly into attacks and defences. They are distributed over the field in the manner shown in the next column, the respective sides being designated black and white for the purposes of the diagram.

It will be observed that the players extend the entire length of the field-from goalkeeper to first home-and that each one, except the goalkeeper, is paired off with a member of the opposing team. This arrangement is possible because off side is non-existent. Point, cover point, and third IOI man are essentially defence players, and they take up positions in the order named and as marked in the diagram. It will be seen that they come into immediate contact with the opposing first, second, and third home respectively. These homes are the leading attacks, and, as it is their office to score goals, it follows that the duties of the Black Side.

First home Second home Third home Attack fields Centre .........

Defence fields Third man Cover point Point Goalkeeper ... .. .......... ... ..

White Goal. 00 Black Goal.

White Side. ......... .....

Goalkeeper.

Point.

Cover point. ......

Third man. ...

Defence fields. ..

Centre. ......

Attack fields.

Third home.

Second home First home. three defences named are of a most responsible nature. The defence fields devote their attentions to the opposing attack fields, whose main duty is to keep their homes well "fed" with the ball. The position of these eight fielders, in conjunction with that of the centres, is one of much greater freedom than that of the other players. The centres are situated in the middle of the field, and their duties are to start the games and to assist both their attacks and their defences as the course of the play demands.

Goalkeeper. Every position on the field is necessarily one of responsibilities, although they may vary in degree. Of the goalkeeper it may safely be said that his office is one of responsibility only. Beyond possessing the necessary attributes of every goalkeeper a quick eye, a steady nerve, and a plucky spirit-he must be a player of great ability, with a complete mastery of his crosse, and a full knowledge of every move in the game. He should take up a position a foot or so in advance of the goal line, holding his crosse in an easy, upright position, with his body slightly bent. He is thus able to follow the swift movements of the ball in front of him, and to be more readily prepared for its reception when it is sent into goal with rapid unexpectancy.

The most difficult shots to deal with are those that touch the ground two or three feet in front and bounce shoulder high, and if the crosse is held downwards it is not possible to raise it in time to touch them, whilst from the slightly upright position every other angle is easily reached. A really fine goalkeeper will catch four out of the six balls he stops, be they never so hard and sudden. In the first of the illustrations he is seen in the act of taking a shot; in the second he has stopped the ball, and it has spun up in the air-evidently a very hot shot and he is running to catch it on the fall.

But a goalkeeper's duties are by no means confined to the stopping and clearing of shots, for when he has possession of the ball his discretion in parting with it should lead to an attack on the opposite goal. Therefore he must be very quick to grasp the [LACROSSE keeper. The stay-at-home custodian is far preferable to the one that leaves his citadel to chase every ball that comes near.

Point. Insomuch that he takes up a position directly in front of goal point is the equivalent of a full back at football. He is a defence player pure and simple, and his primary duty is to check the scoring tendencies of the opposing first home. The chief natural requisite of a point is restraint.

It is necessary for him to be ever anticipating the movements of l.is immediate opponent (the first home), and to be ready to intercept the many surrounding passes, GOALKEEPER (i). disposition of his men in the field, and must possess the ability to get the ball to the bestplaced player with promptitude and true direction. Further, when a shot at his goal misses its objective, he has either to field the ball, which possibly entails a struggle, or be prepared to assist his defence (point or cover point, as a rule), who does this work. He must leave his goal and go well to the side or behind it, and, being the odd man, his reception of the ball enables him to relieve his defence and to place his side in possession. It is a movement that must be carried out with great care in order that his absence from his post may not place his side in jeopardy, but, on the other hand, its successful completion will speedily start a raid at the other end of the field. It is thus truly claimed that an attacking movement may frequently commence with goalbut he must repress all desire to act in these matters unless he is certain of his ability to be successful, for even the smallest mistake or misjudgment on his part will doubtless have fatal results. Point's position is regulated to some extent by the opposing first home, as he must make sure of always being between that player and his own goal, but the area of his operations is distinctly limited. Apart from his attentions to his check, point is continually required to play a general defensive game indeed, his responsibilities in this respect are seldom absent. Consequently, wherever his check may be, he must always remain in his position in front of his goal. The first home will often wander afar off in the hope of enticing point away from his position, and thereby weakening the defensive powers of his (point's) team, but point must steadily LACROSSE] refuse to be drawn, and his distance from his goal should seldom exceed three or four yards. When goalkeeper stops the ball he will at once work to the side of his goal with it, and it is an important part of point's duty to support him by deploying behind goal in order that he can be passed to if goalkeeper is checked. This manœuvre not only gives relief to the defending side, but, if successfully carried out, it begins at once an attack by those who were defending a few moments before. When point is possessor of the ball in front of goal, he needs the support of every player on his side in picking up the shortest of passes from him, and by retrieving his failures.

Cover Point. This player's position is also in front of goal, but a few yards further out than that of point. His main duty is directed to second home, but, as in the case of point, he must not be led far afield, however alluring the home he is checking may appear to be. His range should generally not exceed ten yards from goal, although he is permitted occasional bursts to midfield when the way is clear for him; cover point even scores a goal now and again, but such performances are not indicative of good GOALKEEPER (ii). the field, and that support is given by the promptness with which they free themselves from their checkers, and so become ready to receive the pass. Point, on his part, will look for this support, and will take advantage of it by giving the ball to the man whom he considers most likely to secure it with benefit to his side. He should seldom have to throw the ball beyond his centre, and generally it will go to third man or the defence fielders, but he must be capable of a longer cast if the situation demands one.

The occasions when point will be hard pressed will be innumerable, and at such times he will look for the aid of his cover point. Indeed, the positions of these two players are interchangeable, and their belief in the practice of cohesion of the most complete character must be absolute; one must ever be ready at hand to help the other by play, and it would be unwise to encourage them. Despite his close proximity to point and his frequent assumption of that player's work, cover point is accorded a larger share of freedom; he is less restricted by the confines of his position, but this access of liberty is only comparative, for, whilst he is responsible for any damage the opposing second home may inflict, he must continually be on the look out for raids by "free" opponents from whatever quarter they come.

He is practically the last line of active defence, and a free opponent inside his position (i.e., between him and the goal) means a morally certain score against his side. It is a position that requires a very experienced, cool head, for he will often be called upon to check two opponents at once, and he needs great foresight to help him to reduce the compass of their combined activity, and great skill in intercepting their passes.

He must also take a ready hand in the relief work spoken of in connection with goalkeeper and point, and always be prompt to drop back into goal if necessary. Both point and cover point must be masters of the body check (see footnote to Law X., Section 1), a check that is generally, but imperfectly, understood. It should precede all attempts to secure the ball from an adversary who is running in; it is the only sure corrective to a dodgy player's actions.

Third Man.- This player concludes the defence straight, viz., goalkeeper, point, cover point, and third man, in a straight line in front of one another from goal. His position is farther out than cover point by ten yards, and his area of purely defensive work should not exceed more than thirtyat the most forty-yards from goal. His objective is the opposing third home, and when that player is within the danger zone of twenty yards from goal he must be checked as closely as point and cover point are watching the two inside homes. At thirty yards third home may be given a certain amount of latitude, and beyond that distance it is not desirable for third man to follow him-except with a very wary eye.

The reason for this partial freedom is that the main defences rely upon third man to cut off those opponents who are continually so pressing in their endeavours to encroach upon the danger zone. He needs to be a very quick-footed player with the power to make up his mind instantly, for he will have many complex situations to encounter, and his actions in those matters strike the keynote to his comrades behind him. Although his recognised check is third home, he must take on the incomer likely to cause most danger to the citadel. As those of his men behind him look to him for defensive support, so those in front rely upon him to bring them the ball, and his duty directly he has it is to make off down the centre of the field.

Sometimes a prompt pass to a free man is the best game, but, as a rule, it is advisable for him to run on until he is met by an opponent, and then to transfer the ball to the comrade whom that opponent has had to leave. This "forcing" is an important part of third man's game, but it is necessary to caution him that he can never be transformed into even a temporary attack player, however strong his desire to "have a go at goal may be. He must return to his position directly he has parted with the ball. Beyond these details third man must always fall back when serious danger threatens, and he will frequently be called upon to play as closely defensive a game as point and cover. وو [LACROSSE The illustration on the opposite page is a very interesting study in defensive play, and is an incident in the North v. South match of 1910. The South goal is being attacked.

The Northern first home (No. 1) has just passed the ball to his second home (No. 2), who is dashing across the front almost on the crease ready to flick it in upon arrival.

The Southern point (3) has intercepted the pass, and is hurling the ball away over his shoulder. Cover point (4), with uplifted crosse, is ready to bash down the second home's crosse if the ball reaches it, and goalkeeper (5), with his eye on the ball, is also prepared to attack second home. The Southern third man (6) is awaiting events with the alert knowledge that he is between his goal and his immediate opponent, third home (7).

Defence Fielders. - The positions of these players is to the right and left of the defence straight, and as little out of that straight as their checks, the attack fielders, will permit them to be. Provided that he keeps a vigilant eye upon the movements of his check, the defence fielder is allowed many liberties. It is a position in which the opportunist who is able to control himself will shine. He must be a speedy runner with an alert brain, and he must, before all else, be imbued with unselfishness.

The fielder can make or mar a team by the amount of combined effort he practises. If he finds himself a faster man than his check, he will give him plenty of latitude, and will himself play a forceful game; if the contrary, then he must be content to play a more or less defensive game fairly well back on the straight. Next to checking his attack fielder, his object is to get the ball among his own homes, and it will generally be advisable for him to do this by an indirect route, and by strategy that will provide a free home. He will, as a rule, use his legs to start with, and will run upfield, as near the centre as possible, making for an opponent. This opponent will either have to take him or let him go by. If he is checked, he at once passes the ball to his opponent thus left free, but if he is allowed to go by (an unusual event), he must go on to meet his next opponent. Having given the ball to an attack player, the defence field returns at once to his position, for, in the event of the failure of the attacking movement he has initiated, he is instantly required on the defensive. He will not always be able to break through in the manner suggested he will not be able even to start the run that commenced the operation and the course of the ball to his attacks will frequently be more uncertain. Manœuvrings, struggles, THE TATE LIBRARY, BRIXTON, S.W.

LACROSSE] and bouts of short passing make up the rest of a fielder's life, and his work with his centre, his own attack field, his third man place. Although a defence field can never become an attack proper, he is, nevertheless, attacking whenever he has the ball, and NORTH V. SOUTH (for explanation see opposite page). (who occasionally breaks through), is incessant and varied. In his difficulties he must always remember the opposite wing, for nothing can at once be more relieving there are occasions, once or twice in the course of a season, when he scores goals.

In some of his several incursions he will find a free path left for him, and he must 5 2 7 6 4 3 KEY TO THE ABOVE. to his own side and more disconcerting to the defence of the other than to have the game that has been concentrated in one spot suddenly transferred to a quite opposite take every advantage of such an opportunity. It is to the defence fielder that the main defences chiefly look for support.

There must be no hesitation about this work, and when he realises that goal, or point, or cover, as the case may be, has possession of the ball, the fielder must instantly deploy; whether he does this by breaking away upfield, or to the side, or to the centre, or by falling back, is settled by the existing situa- [LACROSSE must be exceedingly prompt, his valour must be tempered by sound discretion, that resourcefulness must be his leading characteristic, and that he must not know what it means to feel tired. Speed is a necessary adjunct of a centre.

MAKING A RUSH. tion at the moment, but get free he must.

A few feet is generally enough freedom, and he must expect the ball to come to him very swiftly. Sometimes the direction will be indifferent, as the defence man may be in a harassed state, and he must then be prompt to resume his strictly defensive play if necessary. This relieving work is of the greatest possible value to a side, for without it success is not possible.

Centre. Versatility is the hall mark of a centre. His title defines his position, for it is at the marked centre of the field that he is placed. His first duty is to start the games by means of a face. (The face is explained in a footnote to Law IV.) His other work is multifarious, and if it is governed to some extent by the movements and the ability of his opposing centre, as, of course, it is, nevertheless, it is quite as necessary for him to compel the other centre to be watchful also. A purely defensive centre is, consequently, not as useful to his side as he should be. A really good centre must be not only everywhere, but everything, and at once. He must assist his defences when danger threatens, he must support his attacks when an aggressive movement is in progress, he must intercept the man breaking away from the opposing defence, he must be the free man in the field to form the great connecting link between his defences and his attacks, and he must be an adept at scoring goals when opportunity arises. In the midst of these things he must always be conscious of the whereabouts of the other centre. It is scarcely necessary to add that, whilst every action Attack Fields. An attack fielder's position is by no means a fixed one, and he will select it and vary it with two objects in view. His first desire will be to give the fullest assistance he can to his three homes, and the other to make himself as troublesome as possible to his checker-the opposing defence field. He is an attack, but not necessarily a goal scorer. The homes are primarily the goal scorers, and the attack fields are the feeders and supporters of them. The nearer an attack field plays to the straight, the more dangerous he becomes, but he must be very careful to avoid trespassing on the home ground, as any bunching near goal is detrimental to his, the attacking, side. He must choose his ground so well and shift it so frequently and discreetly that he is always accomplishing both the objects with which he sets out. A widely placed attack wing will generally be left more or less alone by his checker, and he will consequently have a good deal of the ball, but he will do very little good with it.

It is very necessary that he should make himself an anxiety not only to his immediate checker, but to the other defences also. An attack field will frequently score goals in a legitimate manner, although, as has been said, it is a secondary part of his work. His doing so will either be the result of rapid tactical work with his homes, or because those players are so closely shadowed by their checkers that although the ball is in the danger zone, they cannot secure it.

When the main defences are checking closely, it becomes imperative for the homes to deepen their positions, as the defences LACROSSE] then have to choose between their positions and their men. If they keep to their positions, then attack field feeds the homes; if they follow the homes, attack field at once seizes the opportunity and rushes in to score. That is the general principle upon which attack field must work; it is subject to every imaginable exception and variation, and needs all possible adroitness and promptness in decision and in action to carry it out. Attack field must be prepared to defend at the shortest notice. When attacking movement by his side has failed, his first duty is to get back into the field, and, when there, to look out for the opponent, who will assuredly break away from defence. This is a vastly important part of the work of centre, the attack fields, and third home, and they must never allow an opponent to go down the field unattended, whether he has the ball or not. an Third Home. - Except that his position is in the direct straight, this player's duties are similar to those of the attack fields. He is more frequently in the danger zone than they are, and his work is with the first and second homes to a greater extent. Like them, however, he must be careful not to bunch in, although he will again and again have to take up the positions vacated by the other homes. It is a position requiring much agility and the most complete unselfishness. His work must be continuous, and he must ever be on the move in order that his checker and the other defences may know not the meaning of rest. His great desire should be to get between his checker and the goal, and when he has accomplished this, a certain score should accrue. He feeds his homes incessantly, works in with them for the return pass, and, as this passing must be short, sharp, and hard, it follows that his alertness and his crosse work must be of the keenest and the best. He has to adapt himself to the movements of his attack fields, for if the fortunes of the game appear to demand their presence in the danger zone, he must withdraw in order to avoid a bunching. His defensive obligations have been spoken of under the heading of attack fields. They are imperative.

First and Second Homes. These players are known as the inside homes, and as they are the recognised scoring members of a team, it is necessary for them to be lightning shots. Their crosse handling must be perfect. It is required of them not only that their crosse should be so much a part of themselves that catching in any and every position is easy, but that when necessary the ball should leave the crosse again instantly either as a shot or a pass.

The taking and the shooting should be a simultaneous action, and the shooting and the passing must be accurate to an inch.

AN ANXIOUS MOMENT IN FRONT OF GOAL.

Many a game has been won and lost by that inch. The freedom of an inside home has often to be measured by inches, whilst its duration counts a moment only, so that once the ball is within the danger zone (and it is always so when third home's position has been passed), the play has to be accurate and smart to the finest degree. The two positions are continuously interchangeable.

Their purpose is to elude their respective checkers (point and cover point), in order that a score may be possible. One of them, first home as a rule, will keep in fairly close proximity to the goal crease prepared to whip in any shot or pass that may reach him.

His presence there is a continued anxiety to the goalkeeper. The other, the second home, will wander a little in the hope of attracting cover point away from his position, and thus leave the goal open for any incomer with the ball. The inside homes must never be stationary. Their movement must be incessant-to one side of the goal, then to the other; out a little bit, in a little bit; always a continual worry" to their checkers. The intricacies of home work would require a volume to describe them; they are so numerous and so varied. If a home player has an idiosyncrasy, as most of them have, it is wise of him to practise it with infrequency. A more or less stereotyped game on the part of a home is the easiest of all to check. Adroitness and activity of mind and body and crosse work are compulsory qualities for an inside home.

LAWS OF LACROSSE.

I. THE CROSSE.

The crosse may be of any length. In its widest part it shall not exceed one foot. A string must be brought through a hole at the side of the tip of the turn, to prevent the point of the stick catching an opponent's crosse. A leading string MID-FIELD PLAY.

Note the restraint of the defence man (in white); he is keeping pace with his opponent, and waiting for him to come round in order to meet him. resting on the top of the stick may be used.

No string may be fastened so as to form a pocket.

The length-strings shall be woven to within two inches of their termination, so that the ball cannot catch in the meshes. No metal of any kind shall be allowed upon the crosse. Splices must be made either with string or gut.

II. THE BALL.

The ball shall be of indiarubber sponge, not less than 7 in. nor more than 8 in. in circumference. It shall weigh not less than 42 oz., nor more than 5 oz.

III. THE GOALS.