XII MARRIED AND A RUN OF LUCK 145 



tree, so the tiger had been unable to drag it 

 away. 



A pecuharity which I have never noticed in 

 other tigers was that this one invariably ate all 

 down the spine, evidently liking the saddle, and 

 then stripped the ribs. All the kills whether 

 tie-ups or stray victims were treated in this way, 

 showing it to be evidently the work of the same 

 tiger. 



The position on the 25th was as follows : There 

 were three kills ; the one described above, over 

 which I put watchers to keep off vultures ; and 

 a tie-up some two miles further on, which I 

 took in my morning's rounds ; and another in 

 the opposite direction, which B. visited. On 

 Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday there was no 

 result, and by this time the kill had become so 

 offensive it was abandoned to the vultures. 



On Thursday the 28th I set off early as usual 

 with two men, so that in the event of a kill 

 one man could always be left behind to keep 

 watch till the coolies brought the chairs and 

 other paraphernalia incidental to a sit-up. We 

 found the young bull tied here as frisky as ever, 

 and having seen it watered, and plenty of grass 

 supplied, we started on our homeward journey 

 about 7 A.M., going back by a different route on 

 the off - chance of a shot at a chital. We had 

 not gone far when we heard a roar. Both the 

 trackers exclaimed, " A bear ! " I was carrying 

 a 9 mm. Mannlicher magazine rifle of my wife's, 

 and my pet shikari, Kerta, had my Wcstley- 

 Richards Explora shot and ball gun. This I 

 had been taking for the last three or four days 



