A NERVOUS TIGRESS. 319 



When we shot the tigress I gave old Bommay Gouda the Government 

 reward, Ks..50 ; and whilst paying the men I presented his son, who had, 

 as usual, made himself conspicuous after the tigress was shot, with one rupee 

 — a great disappointment and disgrace to him, as he was of good caste, and 

 even his own servants, the Sholagas, got more. 



On another occasion the Morlay people were beating a tigress up to me, 

 and had got her to the edge of a thick cover. She then had to cross open 

 ground for seventy yards to the next patch. I was posted in an old tree 

 between the two covers, somewhat nearer the latter. The tigress was a 

 terribly timid creature, and I heard much fun going on with her inside as 

 she skulked about. The men, in threes and fours, were creeping through 

 the cover, which was pretty open underneath, with spears, cudgels, or fire- 

 brands in their hands, and had hemmed her in by forming a semicircle, with 

 its extremities resting on the open ground at the edge of the cover. A cat 

 pursued by a pack of dogs could not have exhibited more fear than the 

 tigress. 



At one time I heard Dod Sidda call to his mates that he could see 

 something red, but did not know whether it was the tigress or an ant-hill. 

 Three or four of them crept nearer to investigate, when the object got up 

 and slunk away. " Who's to the east there ? look out ! stop her ! " they 

 shouted. " Just let us have her by the whiskers in this corner, and we'll 

 hold her till ' Doray ' (our master) comes and shoots her," replied Mada 

 and other choice spirits guarding in that direction. The men understood this 

 particular tigress's disposition so well, and the security numbers and coolness 

 give, that they were doing what even I thought rather rash, though I had 

 every confidence in their astuteness in jungle matters. 



At last the tigress slyly showed her head in my direction, and looked 

 at the open space before her. For some time I only saw the tips of her ears ; 

 she then came forward a few yards, but instead of advancing she crept 

 along the edge of the jungle to outflank the men, and to escape back into the 

 cover from which she had been driven. There was no one to stop her and 

 turn her in my direction, so waiting till she was clear of the men I fired. I 

 confess to having nearly missed her, as the ball, instead of taking her in the 

 shoulder, hit her under the left eye, crossed through the nasal bones, and 

 blew out her right eye, also smashing the articulation of the jaws in her 

 right cheek, making a mummy of her face without killing her. She would 

 have been unable to bite any of us, as we subsequently found, had she got 

 hold of anybody. I missed her with my left as she rushed back into 

 cover. 



All had massed together and now came to me, except a few who climbed 



