THE MAN-EATER OF BELKHERA 141 



ever, was made, and I did not get the news until next day 

 at two o'clock. 



Shortly after four o'clock I was walking up the Be*lkhera 

 glen. As I turned a corner I came on a number of the 

 villagers, among whom sat two native policemen, solemnly 

 taking down the evidence of the panchdyat which had just 

 been held on the corpse of the ill-fated woman. Here 

 I learnt that during the night the panther had returned 

 and dragged the body of his victim far up the hillside. 

 Of course, as usual, it was a bdgh an enormous tiger with 

 paws so big, etc. but I had discovered the pugs of a large 

 panther close to the stream by this time. After a talk, in 

 order to discover how the land lay, my Pathan orderly and 

 I, led by a guide, proceeded to climb the hill, followed by 

 men with kulhdris (small hatchets) and rope. 



The man-eater had removed the corpse about five hun- 

 dred feet up the hillside ; and being guided to the spot and 

 ascertaining, by creeping quietly in, that he was not in the 

 immediate vicinity, I found it poked away under a small 

 bamboo clump. Its appearance was still more horrible 

 than that of the Korku killed the previous year, but some- 

 how not so revolting, the remains bearing small resemblance 

 to humanity. The entire lower half of the body had been 

 devoured, with the exception of the shins and feet ; the 

 knee-joints had been crunched apart like the knuckle- 

 bones of a chicken, and lay twisted out of all semblance 

 to human shape ; one arm had been chewed ; and the other 

 lay extended, with the pewter bracelets still encircling the 

 withered old wrists. 



The nape of the neck, the shoulders, and throat were 

 fearfully mauled, and bore witness to a ferocity of savaging 

 that must have been quite unnecessary, considering the 

 helpless weakness of the poor old victim. 



And as I looked down at these poor relics I suddenly 

 noted, for the first time, that this victim, too, had been 

 partially scalped! 



