66 INDIAN BIG GAME chap. 



On arriving there I found a second bluff beyond 

 it. This had a better command of the further 

 reach of the stream, so I was running to it when 

 I heard a roar from behind the first bluff. 



On approaching this bluff the shikaris had 

 flushed the tiger out of knee - high grass. He 

 sprang up the bank and got away over rocky 

 ground. I never saw him, then or afterwards. 

 The men said he showed blood on his left side, 

 but I could find none and could get no tracks. 

 The young shikari was sick, the old man was beat, 

 and the local men were not keen. 



My tactics here were as bad as could be. No 

 matter what the temptation may be, when one is 

 following a wounded animal there is only one 

 possible place for the gun, that is level with the 

 leading tracker, until the animal is retrieved 

 or the hunt abandoned. {See footnote at end of 

 chapter.) 



My original shot was a bad one. I ought to 

 have put out the torch and waited till the tiger 

 was in such a position that I could get a certain 

 shot. 



The following-up as far as the main stream 

 was correct and careful. 



In following up, the important thing is to go 

 from point to point in bounds. If there are two 

 reliable guns one can cover the other. This is 

 the only occasion on which they may separate. 

 The points made for may well be ahead of the 

 trackers if the country permits. The point being 

 made good, the track is carried up to it. If the 

 track goes into low ground or nullahs, the high 

 ground first on one bank and then on the other 



