butt of this curious and antique weapon rests against the cheek-bone. The faces of many of the hunters, who accompanied us, were scarred below the right eye.
Their dress is characteristic, and they are further distinguished by their boldness, fearlessness, and independent bearing. They adopt, as a uniform, a blue canvas shirt, to which is added a blue or green cotton turban, which is coiled twice through the hair, the torn, frayed end hanging over the forehead. Coloured beads are entwined in this head-dress, and a necklace of similar beads encircles the throat. Chains of seed-beans hang across the breast, to which are fastened the many ingenious contrivances of their calling. The hunters imitate the sounds of various birds and animals very cleverly, particularly those of a pheasant calling to his hen and a doe crying to her calves. The pheasant-call is made from a disc of iron about the size of a sixpenny piece. It resembles the stone of an apricot and is pierced. The decoy used for deer is made from a split bamboo stalk.
Bird-hunters never shoot their quarry upon the wing. They disguise themselves in skins or feathers, bringing down their game from some well-concealed coign of vantage. Deer are hunted during June and July. The hunters form into small parties, and beat up the mountains for several days until their prey is within gunshot. The horns are sold to the native physicians, or exported to China and Japan. When in pursuit of the bear, hunters are more than usually careful to delay firing until the effect of their shot is certain. Good prices are fetched by the various parts of a bear. In addition to the proceeds from the pelt, the flesh, fat, sinews and gall of a bear, supposed to possess certain medicinal properties, sell for their weight
