Hunting by Julius Barras (d. 1894) offers vivid accounts of British colonial life and the thrilling, dangerous sport of tiger hunting in 19th-century India. Blending personal anecdotes with observations on Indian wildlife, landscapes, and customs, Barras provides insight into both imperial adventure and the cultural attitudes of the era. The book reflects colonial-era fascination with exoticism and dominance over nature, making it a valuable resource for understanding British perspectives on India during that period.
ALL who, like myself, have passed twenty-eight years of their lives in the army in India, must have met with many and strange adventures, but comparatively few will take the trouble to endeavor to relate them in print. They either do not care to face the labor, which is anything but light, or they fear to be disbelieved, which is necessarily very painful. Each of these considerations might have deterred me from coming before the public; but experience has shown me that there is really no escape from either dilemma. Amongst a numerous circle of friends I am constantly called upon to 'tell a tale.' I yield, and give myself much trouble to amuse the audience, and am apparently successful in this particular. I learn, however, in the course of time, that few, if any, of the listeners believed a syllable of what they had heard. This was considerably mortifying, when I had carefully avoided even the most trivial exaggeration for the sake of heightening the effect. In vain I wrapped myself in gloomy silence, resolved never to mention a single personal experience again. This frame of mind only made people more resolved than ever to draw me out; so, without any idea that my doings were more remarkable than those of average persons similarly situated, I at last thought the best and least tiresome course would be to write a couple of volumes, which should contain a strictly veracious account of the principal adventures of my life in the East, -an account which should not only be true, but easily capable of verification by any reader who might care to take the slightest pains to such an end.
As nothing can be more dreary than life in an Indian military cantonment, it will surprise no one to learn that sporting incidents, such as tiger-shooting, and wolf-hunting with greyhounds, will form the chief attraction of the present work. That the facts recorded may prove sufficiently exciting to interest the general reader, and yet so correctly recorded as to afford much useful information to young and consequently inexperienced sportsmen, is my object in presenting this work to the public.
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