98 INDIAN BIG GAME 



I had been out one afternoon while it was 

 raining, and as we were stalking along we heard, 

 about a mile behind us, the humph-humph of a 

 tiger, so retraced our steps, with the hope we 

 might see the game-killer, as we felt sure it must 

 be the same one that had killed a chital, the 

 devoured remains of which we had found a few 

 days before. We found ourselves rapidly getting 

 nearer, to judge by the greater volume of sound. 

 At last the noise was so close to us, we knew it was 

 a mere question of which would see the other first, 

 the tiger or ourselves. All at once the Sholaga 

 clutched me, pulling me to one side and pointing 

 through some bamboo. There I saw the tiger, 

 half crouched, but looking away from us in the 

 direction of the river, which flowed close by. 

 To make more certain of my aim I took a 

 long bamboo stick from the Sholaga on which 

 to rest my rifle. I took deliberate aim and fired. 

 The tiger bounded off, and following his flight 

 with my rifle, I let drive the left barrel at him. 

 I could not believe my ears when my tracker 

 said I had missed the first shot, but thought 

 I had got in on the second. I went straight 

 to the place where the tiger had been crouching, 

 which was easily found by the flattened grass, 

 and there found my bullet had thrown up the 

 earth right under the animal. I was completely 

 mystified, and felt so sure of my aim that I went 

 back to where I had stood, leaving the Sholaga 

 to mark the place of the couchant tiger, and 

 took aim again. Then I saw what had happened, 

 for right in front of my rifle, a few yards ahead, 

 was a twig of bamboo freshly cut by the bullet. 



