128 INDIAN BIG GAME 



to a patch of very green dense undergrowth, out of 

 which the tiger had apparently moved ; so at his 

 suggestion he and I skirted the lower side where 

 the hill sloped, in the hope of seeing our booty, 

 while the other three men followed on the tracks. 

 When the Sholagas joined us on the other side they 

 reported that the tiger had again lain down and 

 vomited up a great deal more meat, and a much 

 greater quantity of blood had flowed. Our pro- 

 gress had been so slow that it was getting on for 

 11 o'clock, so I called a halt for breakfast. Two 

 men went back and brought me the grub, which 

 I enjoyed as much as excitement would allow ; 

 perhaps if I had known that the tiger had turned 

 here and was lying in the long grass about fifty 

 yards above me, it might not have added to my 

 comfort. So we chatted gaily, as the Sholagas 

 were confident he had made off down below to 

 the hullah (river), where we thought we might 

 find him reposing in the shade and obtain a com- 

 paratively good view for a coup de grace. 



I was by now quite confident the tiger was 

 wounded unto death but would need a finishing 

 shot. I smoked a pipe till 12 o'clock, then once 

 more took up the quest. We soon found the 

 tiger had decided to keep to the long grass, no 

 doubt because it offered more concealment. 



That the tiger only lay up until we were on the 

 move again was proved by Madha signalling from 

 a tree that he heard rustling in the grass, and we 

 found a fresh form with wet blood. Just above 

 us on the slope of the liill were two gigantic rocks 

 a little apart from each other, forming a cleft, and 

 on the nearer one clung a species of fig-tree 



