A COUPLE OF TIGERS 123 



gave the impression that the tiger was smihng, 

 and his enormous size and vivid colouring as he 

 Uterally lumbered towards me seemed garish and 

 out of place in the short grass. A slight turn in 

 the path gave me the opportunity I had waited 

 for, and, drawing a line between the ear and point 

 of the shoulder, I fired, when, without a sound, 

 he lurched back and rolled over on his side, 

 stone dead, with never a movement. Killed at 

 exactly thirty paces from where I stood, I found, 

 on examination, that my split bullet had crashed 

 into his chest, passing clean through the heart, 

 and was embedded in the bowels in the shape of 

 a perfect mushroom. I had left the bungalow 

 at 6.15, and by 7.30 a.m. the tiger was mine — 

 a fine male, measuring 9' 6", with a splendid ruff 

 and tremendous forepaws. 



After my return to the estate, on the 20th of 

 March 1909, it was reported to me that a tiger 

 had killed three head of cattle in one place, 

 besides badly lacerating a buffalo which had 

 come back to the kraal. It turned out that really 

 five head of cattle had been killed, but at the time 

 the informants only knew of three, so I went 

 down, and found a cow, calf, and bullock. The 

 latter had been dragged a little way to the bank of 

 a stream, but all three were otherwise untouched. 

 I had the cow and calf dragged to where the 

 bullock was, and fixing upon a suitable tree had 

 a machan built and commenced sitting up at 

 3.30 P.M., having dismissed everybody with the 

 injunction that two were to be within call, as 

 there was no moon and I had no electric lamp, 

 so it would be useless sitting up after dark. At 



