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m MY FIRST TIGER 71 



plateau, where the road just touched its banks. 

 Almost as soon as the bridge was crossed, you 

 could see the Naad stretching for miles below 

 you due east, until it was lost in the haze of 

 the horizon. The Naad had always a great 

 attraction for me. The game was more varied, 

 and above all the tiger dwelt there. It is hard 

 to say what is really the best time to be in 

 these parts. When going far east, I found in 

 November and December that sport was certain, 

 whereas after that, from January till April of the 

 open season, it meant failure. On the other 

 hand, within ten miles of the hill range running 

 north and south, the month of* April was hard 

 to beat. The grass is then short and the mango 

 showers rendered the ground excellent for 

 stalking, besides bringing up the young grass 

 shoots. 



To shoot in the low country one must be able 

 to endure much greater heat with very little shade, 

 and in the bamboo any amount of mosquitoes. I 

 have been terribly bitten by them, even in the 

 day-time in some of the denser bamboo parts. 

 When once the Naad was reached, you were 

 wrapped in, so to speak, and your perspective 

 was circumscribed. The grass consisted chiefly 

 of spear-grass. Open spaces for any distance 

 were few and far between, the timber chiefly 

 small and deciduous, with innumerable thickets 

 scattered about. Here and there were river- 

 beds, whose banks were shady with bamboo, wild 

 mango, and tamarind trees. Such surroundings 

 constituted the Naad, and here one might expect 

 to see anything from an elephant to a moose deer. 



