SITTING UP 185 



That is a tiger on every four nights. It 

 should have been more, but for bad per- 

 sonal work of my own. Vide Chapters IV. 

 and V. 

 Panther. — Sat up sixty quarter - nights ; shot 

 12. That is a panther every five nights. 



In comparing the tiger and panther results 

 allowance must be made for the fact that the 

 tiger were all shot over kills while the panther 

 were nearly all over live goats. 



The question of whole against quarter-nights 

 does not arise in the comparison. If a panther 

 means to come at all it is long odds that he will do 

 so before 9 p.m. (my normal panther closing hour). 



Similarly I do not think the relative boldness 

 of the two species affected results. The panther 

 is bolder and more likely to come to a tie-up than 

 a tiger. With a kill the return of a panther 

 should be a certainty ; and with a live goat 

 chances should be good, provided that the recon- 

 naissance is thorough and the animal is known to 

 be about. 



Failing such reconnaissance, sitting up becomes 

 simply an amiable and harmless method of 

 mortifying the flesh. 



I think the difference in my own results is due 

 to the fact that the tiger figures were obtained 

 generally later than those of the panther, and I 

 benefited from the lessons learnt with the latter. 



The panther averages themselves improved. 

 Thus in 1921 I sat up five times and killed 3 

 panther. The first eighteen times I sat up I 

 hardly ever heard and never shot one panther. 



