XIV BUFFALO AND SOME REGRETS 163 



recovered and buried before I could get there. On 

 both occasions I heard too late to inspect the 

 victims. 



I had no shikaris of my own. Three or four 

 of my old reliable men and a couple of bicycle 

 orderlies would have made all the difference. 



Our only excitement was that when tying up 

 one day we were all treed by a rampageous cow, 

 and only released by the elephant, who met the 

 cow in single combat. The cow charged, nothing 

 loth. The elephant gave a flying kick and 

 missed. The cow gave the elephant a shrewd 

 prod with her horns, and recoiled. That was the 

 end of round one. In round two both animals 

 charged ; but the elephant got his kick home on 

 the cow's nose, and I thought he had broken her 

 neck. However, the cow picked herself up and 

 went off with a very crooked head, and we climbed 

 down. She was a lean cow and an ugly one, but 

 I never saw a better. 



To my surprise, one of our tie-ups was killed 

 by the tigress and cub. I sat up all night, but 

 nothing came. 



The tigress and cub had spent the night 

 killing another tie-up four miles away, and had 

 dragged it into a cramped nullah with awkward, 

 thick undergrowth. This spot gave no facilities 

 for sitting up, and was moreover in deep shade. 

 So we extracted this kill, made away with it, 

 and tied up a new cow near the old one. 



I spent a long time over the arrangements, 

 and then went home for a couple of hours sleep, 

 having had none the night before. 



The cow was picketed to a log buried in 



