no BAY OF BENGAL TIGER-DRIVING 



with a piece of soft, well-kneaded clay, and that 

 in turn is baked in the sun. You then have what 

 is practically a tiger's foot in terra-cotta. Many 

 a flat has been induced to pay for khubber of tiger 

 by the simple expedient of pressing the shape into 

 soft earth or sand at intervals. I once bought 

 such a clay foot in a bazaar in Calcutta ! 



On one occasion a wily native tried the trick 

 on me, but I almost immediately detected the 

 uniformity of pressure, which cannot, of course, 

 occur in the case of a live tread. 



On Christmas Day young Lewis and I quartered 

 the best part of the maidan, and I was greatly 

 pleased with the cool courage he displayed in 

 following me in and through long grass and by 

 shrubberies of kola such as tigers love to lie up in. 

 He had only landed from England the week before, 

 the place was a terra incognita to us both, and 

 tigers had evidently been about the place; but he 

 took his risk " like a man," moving about quietly, 

 coolly, and observantly. The last is an essential 

 quality in a shikari. 



Monday, December 26th, I passed strolling 

 lazily along the khal bank a veritable Bank 

 Holiday. 



On Tuesday my two companions went off 

 " forestering " in the steam-cutter. To practise 

 forestry from a steam-cutter may sound strange, 

 but Anglo-Indians have weird customs. For 

 instance, the headquarters of the Inspector of 

 Submarine Mining, also of the Inspector of Coast 

 Defences, are at Simla, some 8,000 feet up a 

 mountain four days from the coast ; and all for the 

 good of the service, bien entendu. 



