THE BIOGRAPHY OF A TIGER 67 



watchful as of yore ; and the heavy limbs, if not so lithely 

 active, are full of reserved power. As he paces grimly 

 forward one of the huge forepaws so softly padding in the 

 warm dust leaves a three- toed track. It is old Lungra! 



Now he has reached the crest of the low hill, and paces 

 the level to its brow overlooking the old valley. There, 

 below the teak-clad moonlit hills, curves his river-bed, 

 winding out to the west between its dark groves of trees. 

 And there in the distance shines a rosy star of flame. 

 That is Kolkdz. The old forest hut is occupied, then ? 



A damp air rises from the valley below, where the 

 course of the river turns in under this steep spur there 

 is a long, shallow pool down there, beloved of pig and 

 deer ; already a faint rustling sounds below, and the 

 " Tit-tit-tit " of the yellow - wattled plover marks the 

 approach of some beast to water. 



Not long after this there is a slight rattle of loose earth, 

 and the old tiger springs heavily down into the soft bed 

 of a tributary nullah. An overhanging tree, a walk along 

 this deep-cut watercourse, a break in the sheer bank, a 

 scramble, and now he is silently promenading the edge 

 of the S/pna itself. Little paths run here and there 

 through dry reeds and brushwood. Dried leaves crackle 

 on the pathway. Something small darts suddenly snarl- 

 ing into long grass. It is very dark under the fringe of 

 overhanging trees ; there is the slow croaking of frogs, and 

 a line of silvery sheen shows through black trunks, and 

 boles, and drooping leaves. The path slants downwards, 

 and there is a dank smell of mud and slime. 



The tiger halts. There is something there in the 

 shadows by the pool. 



Suddenly the shingle scatters under rushing hoofs, 

 there is a heavy galloping through the undergrowth and 

 away among the loud leaves, and again, in the shelter of 

 the adjoining forest "P6nk!" . . . 



The game-path descends the bank, and emerges in the 



