i 
THE TIGER. 59 
Hills, on the north-eastern frontier, will be found of more than 
common interest. “The station of Cherrapunji,” writes the 
narrator, “stands upon a plateau overlooking the plains, sur- 
rounded on the three sides by well-wooded ravines, the slopes, 
or rather cliffs, of which are so precipitous that Deer are sel- 
dom found there, and though the Black Bear now and again 
turns up he generally prefers other lines of country. The 
visitor to Cherra, in the cold weather, would have been puzzled 
to account for Tigers patronising the place, but that is easily 
explained. As the rains set in, almost the whole of the graz- 
ing-grounds along the foot of the hills are submerged, though 
the houses, when not built on piles, are raised on mounds of 
mud some three to four feet in height, but it would be im- 
possible to keep cattle in the limited area of the raised daree. 
As the rains approached, therefore, the cattle were driven up 
to Cherra, upon whose desolate plateau a few inches of rain 
effects a wonderful transformation scene. ‘These herds were 
increased by the return of the garrisons of the outposts and 
stockades for the rains, who also brought their Cows with 
them, and, as most of the Sepoys owned at least two head, the 
number of cattle that came up for the benefit of the grass that 
sprouted so magically after the first shower could not have 
been far short of 1,200 to 1,500. Hence, washed out of his 
lair below, and the hillsides being barren, the Tiger has no 
alternative but to follow his commissariat supplies up the 
mountain ; and numerous as these brutes were, it is a marvel 
that they did not show up in greater force, considering the 
ample supply of provisions available. The area of the plateau 
is restricted, and as the central portion was occupied by 
houses, the grazing-grounds were mostly on the edges of the 
ravines. On the east side Tigers would lie just below the 
level, and creeping to the summit with the mists that roll up 
from the valleys when the hot sun shone down on the sodden 
