64 SOLDIER AND SPORTSMAN 



quite indifferent to any possible danger. But I 

 take it that very few animals will tackle these 

 creatures, hence their confidence when abroad. 



The sun was just about to set, so we left our 

 shelter and proceeded homewards. 



I have before mentioned that the scent of a tiger 

 is readily discernible. We had gone only about 

 a quarter of a mile along the game path when I 

 stopped and said to my shikaree : "I smell a 

 tiger." His response was a yell so sudden that 

 it broke on the stillness like the bursting of a 

 shell. 



"That will frighten him," said he. 



The following morning we went to the spot and 

 there, right enough, were the tracks of the tiger 

 over ours, and the marks where he stirred the sand 

 on the path when he jumped on hearing, I suppose, 

 that dreadful yell. 



When we returned to headquarters the live 

 stock collected during the trip comprised a bear 

 cub, a panther cub and a young Indian dog. 

 The panther eventually arrived at the Zoological 

 Gardens in Bombay, but it was never an interesting 

 pet, being surly and unsociable. The temperament 

 of animals varies just as much as the temperament 

 of human beings. 



The variableness in the latter can be accounted 

 for. Yet it is not easy to find the reason that 



