SITTING UP 189 



(c) Sense of Smell. — Poor. I never worry as to 

 direction of wind. One day I sat up on the ground 

 in a bush in Bussundpur Bagh in the Kadir. The 

 first sign of the panther was at about 9 p.m., 

 when I heard his guts rumbUng on my left in the 

 corner of my bush. He then took ground out of 

 sight on my left and stayed there a long time. I 

 could hear his breathing. He came up to the 

 goat from my front, but did not kill and gave me 

 no shot. He went several times round my bush at 

 varying distances. At 11 p.m. he killed, and I put 

 an 8-bore bullet through him. In spite of being 

 really near me for a couple of hours, this animal 

 never smelt me. Yet last month, W., shooting 

 with me, saw a tiger, which he afterwards killed, 

 earnestly smelling the spot where men had been 

 standing when they picketed the drag. 



Only those wearing leather footgear should 

 go near or picket the kill. None should go on 

 the ground between the kill and the line of the 

 tiger's approach. 



Jungle men after putting up a machan have 

 a habit of sitting at the foot of the tree smok- 

 ing and making the ground reek for yards 

 around. 



5. Some Essentials for Success : (a) Invisi- 

 bility ; {b) Absence of movement ; (c) Silence. 



(a) Invisibility. — Few realize the necessity for 

 perfect screening of themselves and their machan. 

 Many are satisfied with a species of crow's-nest 

 erected on prominent boughs of some tree with a 

 good leafy top. This is not enough. You must 

 get into the heart of dense foliage and then pile 

 up boughs and leaves until you and your machan, 



