236 Wild Beasts 



evidently much excited, for his eyes flashed fire, his tail 

 was straight on end, and he was tearing up the ground 

 with his forefeet, all the while grunting furiously. As 

 we were all, luckily, well to leeward, the taint in the air 

 was not likely to be winded, so I made signs to the bearers 

 to lay down their guns, and climb into an adjacent tree; 

 while Burton and myself, with a rifle in each hand, by dint 

 of creeping on our hands and knees, gained a small clump 

 of bushes on a raised bank, and not more than thirty 

 yards distant, whence we could see all that was going on. 

 When we first arrived, the tiger was nowhere to be seen ; 

 but from the bison's cautious movements, I knew he 

 could not be far off. The moon was high in the heavens, 

 making the night as clear as day ; so not a movement 

 could escape us, although we were well concealed from 

 view. 



" Several rounds had already been fought, for the game 

 had been going on a good twenty minutes before we came 

 up, and the bison, besides being covered with lather about 

 the flanks, bore several severe marks of the tiger's claws 

 on the face and shoulders. Whilst we were ensconcing 

 ourselves comfortably behind the cover, with our rifles in 

 readiness for self-defence only, — for we had no intention 

 of interfering in the fair stand-up fight which had evidently 

 been taking place, — a low savage growling about fifteen 

 paces to the right attracted our attention ; and crouched 

 behind a tuft of fern, we discerned the shape of an im- 

 mense tiger watching the movements of the bison, which, 

 with his head kept constantly turned towards the danger, 

 was alternately cropping the grass, and giving vent to his 



