52 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 



locality to protect me. He would do all the stealing 

 he could, they told me, but he would prevent the 

 others from stealing. 



The trip was made with a retinue of servants, 

 cooks, bearers and runners, each with his own 

 little task. It was my first experience with the caste 

 system, and I was amazed at the number of people 

 I had to take with me. We traveled by the main 

 road for two hundred miles ; then by a branch road 

 to a place called Pachamba. The remainder of the 

 trip was made by ox-teams and bearers, along the 

 line of the government rest-houses erected for the 

 use of officials visiting the country. 



We stopped at a rest-house about three miles 

 from the village, and I sent the boy on ahead to 

 buy food for us and to get information about the 

 tigers. Then we engaged one of the local natives 

 to act as guide and guard. I was exhausted by the 

 trip and soon after supper I went to sleep. 



A few hours after dark, I was awakened by the 

 most unearthly yell I have ever heard. I jumped up 

 and called the boy I had brought from Calcutta. He 

 was trembling with fright and he said that he didn't 

 know what the noise meant. Remembering all the 

 tales I had heard about the people of this district, 

 I ordered the boy to bar the doors and windows and 

 to lay out my guns. I was well armed with auto- 

 matics and revolvers and I prepared for a battle. 

 Presently there came another yell, answered on all 

 sides of us. With my guns loaded and ready, I sat 



