NOTES ON MAN-EATING TIGERS. 199 



been killed by tigers, and so far as I can discover not till 1 888 did 

 another human being fall a prey to a tiger in this district. 



I received an invitation from Mr. A. "VV. Crawley-Boevey, who was 

 then Collector of Surat, to shoot with him in April 1889 in the 

 Native State of Bansda. I was informed of the ravages of a man- 

 eater in these same Sardardevi jungles, and Mr. Boevey suggested 

 we should go after it if the kubber was reliable. I arrived at 

 Bansda on 30th March, when Mr. Boevey at once informed me that 

 the tiger had killed a woman near Sardardevi during the Holi 

 holidays, about fifteen days back, and we agreed it would be well to go 

 over there some ten miles distant, and spend a few days after the 

 man-eater or some bears said to be in that neighbourhood. The 

 Rajah of Bansda showed us every kindness and facility, had a 

 camp pitched for us at Sardardevi, and placed a number of sowars, 

 sepoys, shikaris, &c, at our disposal. He is an enlightened Rajah, 

 but not so enlightened as is the English ruler of a neighbouring 

 province, who with one hand doles out a reward to those who kill a 

 tiger, whilst with the other he from time to time pens rules placing 

 needlessly heavy restrictions on those who spend time and money 

 in killing tigers in his province ! No rules or restrictions were 

 placed in our way and no permit was required, but a hearty 

 welcome was given us by the Rajah and his Dewan, Mr. Jhaverbhai 

 Nathabai. Whilst riding out to Sardardevi in the early morning, 

 a sowar met us bearing a message from the shikari Hubib, who 

 had for years been Mr. Mulock's shikari, telling us that the man- 

 eater had killed three bullocks belonging to some Brinjarees on the 

 previous afternoon and two bullocks the day before. We hurried on 

 to Sardardevi, where we met Jemadar Abdulla, head of the Dharam- 

 pore State Police, and a noted shikari who had come to assist us. 

 Ho informed us that there were two tigers, one they had marked 

 down, the smaller one having eaten and gone off some distance. We 

 found the beaters ready, and at once went off to the jungle, where 

 we found everything ready, passing on the road the Brinjari camp 

 from whence came the bullocks which had been killed. Mr. Boevey 

 was placed up a tree near one of the kills which had not been 

 eaten at all. Soon after the beat commenced, the tiger roared. 

 The beat came on almost up to us when the tiger broke back with a 

 roar through the beaters without damaging any one of them. In 

 fact, Hubib told me he turned out of the way of a beater standing 

 on his direct path, instead of knocking him down and giving him a 



