188 INDIAN BIG GAME 



machan but did not load. My men tied up a 

 goat and, as they turned, a big panther carried 

 off the goat, leaving me cursing with unloaded 

 barrels and a tedious trek home. 



Having learnt my lesson, I was once more 

 sitting up when my men whispered, as they tied 

 the goat, that they had just seen the panther. 

 Before they had gone five yards he lay dead 

 alongside the goat, which recovered. 



You should get good warning from jungle 

 noises— sambhur, chital, monkeys, peafowl, foxes, 

 and the like. 



There is no certainty that animals will arrive 

 noiselessly, though there is every probability. 

 They may come with a noise like a buffalo. If 

 they grunt or sniff it means that your chance of 

 a shot for that night is gone. 



Little can be deduced from a kill as to the 

 chances of an animal's return. He may be a 

 rogue who only drinks blood or eats a little of 

 the hind-quarter. But these signs may be due 

 to his having killed just before dawn. A good 

 juicy kill, half eaten and perhaps covered up, 

 is the most favourable sign. 



I can find no confirmation of the native super- 

 stition that a tiger will only return to a kill he 

 has left lying on its right side. 



4. Risk of Detection by Carnivora from 

 {a) Eyesight ; (b) Hearing ; (c) Sense of smell. 



{a) Eyesight. — Extremely good and the chief 

 thing to be guarded against. (See Invisibility, 

 below.) 



(b) Hearing. — Also very acute. Second only 

 to eyesight. (See Silence, below.) 



