332 RIFLE AND ROMANCE 



grapple, The crude nature of such guiding rules might 

 therefore be modified somewhat as follows : 



"Every sportsman who wounds a dangerous animal 

 must be prepared to take such steps at his command as 

 will prevent it from endangering human life, and at the 

 same time make reasonable endeavours to save it from 

 a painful and lingering death. Unless a man is prepared 

 to so dispose of a wounded animal he has no business to 

 go out shooting." 



Now the means available for carrying out these necessary 

 precautions vary very much, according to locality and 

 circumstances. With a case when the services of an 

 elephant are available we have nothing to do, as its aid 

 enables the sportsman to follow up at once. Rather are 

 we considering the case of the " foot " shikari, the rooster 

 in trees, or rocks, or on the banks of steep ndlas, or other 

 vantage ground. What is he to do when he has wounded, 

 we will say, a tiger ? That a large number of felines are 

 wounded and subsequently accounted for by men shooting 

 " on foot " is a well-known fact, and it goes to prove that, 

 given due caution and some knowledge of the animal's 

 habits, there is a reasonable chance of securing a success- 

 ful and safe termination to the proceedings. It is im- 

 possible to detail anything even like a fraction of the 

 varying circumstances with which one may encounter ; let 

 us therefore take but two: (i) the successful recovery of 

 a wounded tiger ; (2) the unsuccessful attempt, with the 

 consequent action necessary. 



In the first case let us assume that the sportsman, 

 perched aloft in tree or machdn, rock, etc., has had a tiger 

 beaten up to his post. He has fired at the animal, which 

 has acknowledged the shot by a stumble or flinch, or per- 

 haps by a temporary fall, or otherwise, and has then dis- 

 appeared from sight beyond the post he occupies. The tiger 

 has not been in any way located by any " stops " which the 

 shikari may have posted, but has passed beyond their ken. 



