50 INDIAN BIG GAME 



The fourth tiger broke out of the beat and 

 never reached the plateau. 



We got the beaters away and found the place 

 where the tiger had been hit. He had bled freely 

 and had passed dung. A back stop on the gap 

 said he saw blood coming from his side. 



We went on too soon, not giving the tiger 

 time to stiffen. It was getting late : we had five 

 miles to travel and at least two tigers to skin. 

 It was an inexcusable mistake to follow blood- 

 tracks instead of keeping to the top of the cliffs 

 of the long ridge. We thought the tiger was 

 working down to the river. Instead, he had gone 

 along the foot of the cliffs. We heard a roar from 

 round an abutting corner of rock, and saw the 

 silhouette of the tiger against the sky, but he 

 disappeared too quickly for a shot. On reaching 

 the top we continued following up, but could 

 not get hold of him and had to leave him in the 

 dusk. We got home late, and I skinned till long 

 past midnight. 



Had we left the tiger for a couple of hours, he 

 would have stiffened and never moved. Had we 

 gone along the top of the cliffs, I should have had 

 an easy shot, and we should have avoided asking 

 for a charge. This was really bad work, haunting 

 the memory. 



We were out at dawn next morning and took 

 up the tracks again, but blood had ceased. The 

 rocks showed no tracks, so we sadly gave up the 

 hunt. I believe the poor beast had never reached 

 the river and was dead in a cave beneath our 

 feet. 



We worked through all the ground of the 



