sambhur. If small insects come they will get barking deer.
Much though he enjoys the sport, the Lhota hunts primarily to get meat.
The division of the spoil is therefore carefully regulated by custom,
which is strictly adhered to. In the case of deer the first spear gets
a hind-leg, second spear a fore-leg, and the owner of the dogs a
hind-leg, the head, liver and heart, [92] the remaining fore-leg going
to the oldest man of the hunting party. The rest of the meat is divided
among the remaining spearmen, the older men getting slightly bigger
shares than the younger. A spear which only hits the animal in the face
or on the hock does not count. Were the thrower to claim a share of the
meat on the strength of such a hit it is believed that either he or one
of his family would die. From every deer killed Sityingo is given his
share. This consists of six little bits of liver wrapped in one leaf
and five little bits in another. These are eaten by the oldest man in
the village of the clan of the owner of the dogs. Wild pig (oni or
lipung) are occasionally hunted with dogs, but generally are only
speared if a man happens to meet one. The same applies to bears
(sivan). A wounded bear is not generally followed up till next day. It
is then relentlessly tracked, alike over soft ground where every
footprint is plain and over rocky slopes where nothing but a few bent
leaves show which way it has gone, for a Lhota will pick up what, to
European eyes, is a hardly perceptible trail as easily and quickly as
he will follow an ordinary path. In the case of animals such as pig and
bear killed without the aid of dogs, the first spear gets the head,
hind-leg, fore-leg, liver and heart, and the second spear the other
fore-leg and hind-leg. Remaining members of the party take the rest of
the meat. There are no chiefs as there are among the Semas and Changs
to get a share of the meat whether they join in the hunt or not. Dogs
are also used to hunt porcupines (liso), an animal much sought after
for its flesh, the skin of the back being especially esteemed. For a
tiger (mharr) or leopard (mharrtero) hunt the whole male population of
the village turns out with daos and shields and spears, and, in Moilang
and its neighbours, wearing cane helmets. A rough circle is cleared
round the piece of jungle in which the beast has been marked down, and
a V-shaped palisade is built at the bottom. Outside this the old men
wait with their spears ready poised, while the young men drive the
animal downhill, cutting the jungle as they go. Any man who is charged
falls with his shield over him, while a shower of spears distracts the
tiger’s attention. Eventually if all goes well the tiger is driven into
the palisading and speared by the old men waiting there. If a tiger
happens to break a spear the shaft must either be left in the jungle or
stuck in the ground under the head of the quarry when it is hung up
after a successful hunt. If this is not done the owner will some day be
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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