NOTES ON MAN-EATING TIGERS. 201 



tigress also roared when the beat commenced, and came up to 



some high grass opposite to Mr. Boevey. When the beaters came 



quite up she went at a rush past Mr. Boevey, who fired twice 



with a Magnum express. She rapidly made off, and as we could 



find no blood we had another beat. Whilst walking on ahead we 



heard a bekri deer bark and saw a peacock fly, which made us 



sure she was there. To make a long story short, she did not come 



up to the guns, but started off directly the beat began, passed out 



at the side under a tree upon which sat a sepoy who saw she had a 



bullet in her stomach. We found lots of blood, and pugged her 



up a bit, and then stopped as the sun was sinking, and the shikaris 



said we should find her dead next day, and if we went on some one 



would get mauled. Each of us being a paterfamilias, under solemn 



promises to our wives to do nothing rash, we fell in with this view. 



Next day we found she had drunk at the same place and pugged 



her into a jungle a mile off. Drops of blood were found on her path. 



However, although we beat for her all day we could not find her, 



and after that all trace of her disappeared. All said she was dead 



somewhere, but we could not find her, and there is no doubt that 



with an Express bullet in her stomach she must have died. Next 



day, which was a cruelly hot one, I went out at noon alone to look 



for her, and also to get information about the depredations of the 



man-eater. It is impossible to place much reliance on the various 



statements made to me by the various jungle men I spoke to, 



because it was very evident they grossly exaggerated. I was told 



the tiger had killed various people, from forty to 500 in number, 



and that last rains he had been particularly vicious in killing people 



engaged in cultivating their small strips of land in the jungle, and 



even taking people out of bullock carts carrying timber from the 



forests. I went to see two or three places where people were 



actually seized. One of these was close to a jungle road to the 



Dangs, over which a large timber traffic passes. I have here a photo. 



of one of the jungle roads over which the beast used to pass, and 



also of a temple to the tiger god which the Bheels erect all over 



these districts. On the next day Mr. Boevey had to break up 



camp, and leave for Surat hurriedly, as fast as we could march, in 



consequence of the Surat fires. I tried unsuccessfully to reason with 



him, that it was more important to bag man-eating tigers than inspect 



a fire which would be put out long before he could reach it. However 



my arguing did not convince Mr. Boevey, and we had to put an end 



