Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume VIII, No. 5 [‎15r] (32/154)

JOURNEY ROUND SIAM.
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man, and whose acquaintance I had already made in Bangkok, planned
a deer-hunt for my distraction. Deer are hunted here in an extra
ordinary and, I should think, quite a unique fashion. They are, in
fact, run down by ponies, and that in a remarkably short space of
time. The ponies are small, hardy, and very active animals, as one
may judge from their success in this hunt. The entertainment was
got up in grand style, with twenty elephants and thirty ponies, and
the ponies were ranged across the plain outside Battambong in a line
extending about a quarter of a mile, whilst the elephants followed up
behind with spectators. The deer, which are by no means small
animals, but the ordinary sambur of these tropical countries, swarm in
A CAMBODIAN GIRL WEAVING CLOTH.
great numbers amongst the thick deep grass, and as soon as the head
and horns of one was seen bobbing up and down as it bounded away
like an arrow, the nearest half-dozen ponies started oft alter it at a
break-neck pace. The natives ride barebacked, and, as the giound is
full of depressions and empty water-holes, it is marvellous how well
they retain their seats.
In three or four minutes’ time we saw from our elevated perch the
foremost rider stop and jump off. When the elephants came up, the
deer was already nearly skinned, and a few moments afterwards it was
cut in two, tied together with its own skin, and slung across the back
of an elephant, there in readiness to carry home the spoil. Ihe deer,
it seems, drop down breathless, and the rider gives it the coup de grace
with his hunting-knife. I calculated the course of two of these runs,
.and put it down at three-quarters of a mile for the one and three miles