312 THE "BON'S" DEATH 



the elephant's back ; had I gone to it on foot I should have had to do so 

 within a few feet of the tiger, which shows the danger of moving about 

 when a wounded animal is near. 



We hunted him about for a couple of hours more, but though I posted 

 myself ahead whilst Bheemruttee drove towards me, and went in on her 

 once or twice, I had not the luck to get another shot at him. Strange to 

 say he would not fight despite all this badgering, but kept moving about 

 with only Bheemruttee following him. It grew late, and we had to leave 

 the sulky monster at nightfall, growling in a thicket into which we durst 

 not put an elephant as there was a high bank in the centre on which he 

 was lying, and from which he might have jumped upon us. 



Next morning I was joined by a first-rate sportsman, who had unfortu- 

 nately missed the fun of this day, and we went to the cover together. We 

 found the tiger had left it, and it was not till the trackers had been engaged 

 for three hours on the trail, across hard stony ground, that we reached a 

 ravine which he had entered. It was not known whether he had remained 

 here or passed out, so we got up trees and the elephants and trackers on 

 them went in. A low growl was soon heard, but the men were divided in 

 opinion as to whether it was one of the elephants or the tiger that had 

 uttered it. They, however, at last ascertained that the tiger was lying in a 

 very dense patch of grass and thorny shrubs, and Bheemruttee was sent 

 for me. When I pushed in, the wounded monster, too sick to move, 

 growled again, and I settled him with the 8 -bore. I was obliged to lie in 

 an awkward position on the pad to get this shot, and forgetting to hold the 

 heavy rifle as tightly as I should have done, it recoiled and drove the 

 hammer deep into my nose, so that I was soon almost as bloody as the 

 tiger. I had 12 drams of powder in the cartridge, which had been loaded 

 for bison-shooting. One elephant standing near with several spare men on 

 the pad moved a step forward at the shot, and the rearmost man went a 

 back summersault, clutching at the ropes, and landing upon his feet, rather 

 astonished, at the elephant's tail. She, thinking this was the tiger at last, 

 made off with her cargo at her best pace for some distance, to the general 

 amusement. 



Thus ended this famous tiger. We really regarded the fallen hero 

 with pity. One tracker said emphatically, as he leant on his long spear 

 and looked reproachfully at his fellows, "He, never hurt any of vs." He 

 had died as he lived, managing cleverly to the last, and he perished with 

 clean hands ; not the life of one of his old friends could be laid to his 

 charge. We had hived on such intimate terms with him that I, for one, 

 now that the chase in which we had followed him with such ferocious 



