HAPPY DAYS AS AN ASSISTANT 17 



carrying one's camp paraphernalia, or in dragging timber. 

 Occasionally one made use of them for riding purposes, but 

 only rarely for shooting from. Shooting was primarily done 

 on foot, a great contrast to the more usual methods adopted 

 in the high grass jungles in the north of India and in the east, 

 in Assam and elsewhere. 



We set off just before noon and arrived at the village 

 nearest the end of the tunnel at which the men had been 

 killed. On the way we gathered a good deal of information 

 about this man-eater. Of course, he was known in the 

 district, and by repute to us as a reward had been offered 

 by the Government for his destruction, a reward which was 

 subsequently raised to a considerable sum as the beast 

 became more daring. But already he was the scourge of 

 this district and of, at least, two neighbouring ones. Wood- 

 cutters fled from the forests and grass-cutters and others 

 refused to stir from their villages into the jungles as soon 

 as a " kill " took place in the neighbourhood. He was said 

 to be a very old beast with worn teeth, this being a reason 

 for his having taken to man-killing, as he was no longer 

 able to pull down deer or cattle. 



On arriving at the village we enquired for the guide 

 who was to show us the place, and to our disgust discovered 

 that he had gone out to cut grass in the fields in an unknown 

 direction, but certainly not in the one where the tiger was 

 supposed to be. It transpired that he had promised the 

 sub-inspector to remain at the village till 11 a.m., and if 

 the sahibs did not turn up by then he would go out to get 

 his daily load of grass. The policeman on being heatedly 

 interrogated, of course, said the villager had misunderstood 

 him. After a consultation one of the villagers volunteered 

 the statement that he thought he knew where the man 

 had gone and could bring him back within the hour. We 

 agreed to wait for this period, and, sending off the man, 

 dismounted and sought the shade of a tree, where we 

 smoked and endeavoured to possess our souls in patience. 

 The villager did not return at the appointed time and 

 after giving him half an hour's grace it was decided to set 

 out for the tunnel and see if we could find a trace of the kills. 

 This we thought should be easy, as the man had so definitely 

 said they had taken place near the tunnel mouth. 



The elephant was taken very cautiously over the half- 

 mile which separated us from the spot, the beaters marching 



