[50 THE TIGER. 



the beasts of prey during the day-time, and the fevr 

 huts scattered here and there, which could hardly be 

 called villages, seemed like islands in the desert waste 

 around us. We stopped near two or three of these 

 green tufts, which generally surrounded a lodgment 

 of water, or little ponds, in the midst of the sand. 



" The way in which these ferocious animals are 

 traced out is very curious, and, if related in England, 

 would scarcely be credited. A number of unarmed 

 half- naked villagers, go prying from side to side of 

 the hush, just as a boy in England would look after 

 a stray sheep, or peep after a bird's nest. Where 

 the jungle was too thick for them to see through, 

 the elephants, putting their trunks down into the 

 bush, forced their way through, tearing up every 

 thing by the roots before them. About four miles 

 from our tents we were all surrounding a bush, which 

 might be some fifty yards in circumference, (all in- 

 cludes William Fraser, alone upon his great elephant, 

 Mr Barton and myself, upon another equally large, 

 Mr Wilder upon another, and eight other elephants ; 

 horsemen at a distance, and footmen peeping into 

 the bushes). Our different elephants were each en- 

 deavouring to force his way through, when a great 

 elephant, without a houdah on his back, called 

 1 Muckna,' a fine and much esteemed kind of ele- 

 phant, (a male without large teeth), put up, from 

 near the centre of the bush, a royal tiger. In an in- 

 stant Fraser called out, * Now Lady H., be calm, 

 be steady, and take a good aim, here he is.' i 



