ROUND THE CAMP FIRE 333 



It may be that the stricken brute has proceeded along 

 a ravine with steep banks ; into a jungle where there is no 

 long grass or thick covert, but plenty of trees affording 

 a perch over fifteen feet in height; among a series of 

 gullies or steep spurs of a more or less grassless nature ; or 

 into any similar ground that will usually permit of one's 

 seeing him before he can view his pursuers, or only find 

 them when they are in some secure coign of vantage. In 

 any case the sportsman has, we assume, taken the pre- 

 caution of waiting an hour or two in order to give the 

 wounded creature time to stiffen or die, or to move well 

 away, should it be capable of moving freely on account of 

 being only slightly wounded. 



It is obvious that a really cautious search, by moving 

 very slowly, scouting ahead from trees before advancing, 

 and generally taking all possible common-sense precau- 

 tions, ought, in such ground, to reveal the whereabouts of 

 the wounded tiger and afford some opportunity for safely 

 finishing him off. It may be that these operations towards 

 recovery may extend over one day. Various considera- 

 tions may also aid us in carrying out a successful and safe 

 recovery of the wounded animal, besides the configura- 

 tion of the country and its natural features. It may be 

 that there is but one pool within many miles ; the particu- 

 lar covert or jungle may be of confined extent ; the soil 

 may be sandy, or grass recently burnt, and so afford an 

 easy means of tracking. The tiger may be found dead, 

 or so disabled as to afford a chance of the finishing shot. 



Now to regard the other side of affairs, the second series 

 of circumstances, by reason of which our wounded beast 

 cannot be brought to bag. 



Assumed that the beat has been a difficult one, and the 

 tiger an unusually truculent beast, hard to move, and prone 

 to " go for " for the advancing line of beaters or " make 

 faces " at the stops in their trees. In a very bad temper, 

 he may have at last been forced past the shikdri, and the 



