58 SOLDIER AND SPORTSMAN 



the floor. The mirror in the room was spattered 

 with powder, and it was clear he had looked in 

 it when putting the revolver to his mouth. 



Strangely enough, it has happened that I have 

 three times in my life been principal witness in 

 suicide cases. In each instance evidence threw no 

 light upon the reason for self-destruction. I have 

 many times heard it argued as to whether such 

 is the act of a brave man or a coward, and I 

 incline to the opinion that it must require a vast 

 amount of resolution to do the final act. The 

 letters my friend wrote the evening prior to his 

 death were to bid good-bye to various friends. 

 What passed through my mind was, if he had 

 not written those letters, would he have thought 

 better of it ? Having written them, he may have 

 thought that it would be cowardice to refrain from 

 committing the final act. If that is so, then the 

 deed was that of a brave and resolute man. I 

 have no doubt it was the shaking his nervous 

 system received from the accident when driving 

 a week previous to the tragedy that upset his 

 mental equilibrium. 



During the hot weather season of 1879 the late 

 Colonel Walker (who later commanded the regi- 

 ment) and myself spent our long leave on a shooting 

 trip to the jungles skirting the Narbudda. The bag 

 at the end of the trip consisted of seven tigers, and 



