THE MAN-EATER OF BELKHERA 13$ 



of the charm of its situation has in consequence departed. 

 The ploughshare has bitten deeply into the once jungle- 

 smothered lands ; roads have opened up the erstwhile im- 

 penetrable depths of the " Melghat," as the hilly forest 

 region lying within the Satpura range is called ; improve- 

 ments in firearms have thrown a large quantity of muzzle- 

 loading muskets in the way of the natives of those tracts ; 

 and game has greatly diminished in numbers. 



However, when I was quartered at this queer little old- 

 fashioned station, some years ago, there was still a fair 

 amount of shikar to be had if one cared to work pretty 

 hard for it, and had sufficient patience to put up with 

 a somewhat disheartening proportion of blank days. In 

 this connection I refer to " big game " ; antelope, chinkdra, 

 and such smaller game were really plentiful, and not 

 difficult to get at. 



I will, however, pass over a description of the sport 

 obtainable in the vicinity of little Junglypur, confining 

 myself to the story of the Belkhe'ra man-eater, a recital 

 of whose misdeeds and bold ferocity may prove more 

 interesting. 



It is an accepted fact that a large number of man- 

 eaters in Berar and the Deccan are panthers. Nobody 

 who has even a short experience of panthers and tigers 

 will deny that the former animal is the more dangerous 

 of the two. The tiger is, as a rule, a gentleman. The 

 panther, on the other hand, is a bounder. The tiger is 

 not infrequently a blunderer; but Felis pardus knows 

 exactly how to combine the two attributes of dashing 

 pluck and almost unerring discretion, which are his by 

 inheritance. 



The panther, moreover his habits leading him to the 

 vicinity of villages is much more familiar with man, and 

 in consequence holds him in greater contempt than does 

 the tiger, whose acquaintance with the biped is generally 

 confined to a yelling band of demons and a terrifying 



