316 THE HIGHLANDS OF CENTRAL INDIA. 



mile of the river, where a dense thorny cover began^ 

 throiio:h which no one could follow a tiger. 



We slept that night at the little village, and early 

 next morning made a long cast ahead, proceeding at 

 once to the river, where we soon hit upon the track 

 leading straight down its sandy bed. There were some 

 strong covers reported in the river-bed some miles 

 ahead, near the large village of BhddiigaoD, so I sent 

 back to order the tent over there. The track was crossed 

 in this river by several others, but was easily distin- 

 guishable from all by its superior size. It had also a 

 peculiar drag of the toe of one hind-foot, which the 

 people knew and attributed to a wound he had received 

 some months before from a shikari's matchlock. There 

 was thus no doubt we were behind the man-eater, and I 

 determined to follow him while I could hold out and we 

 could keep the track. It led right into a very dense 

 cover of jaman and tamarisk, in the bed and on the 

 banks of the river, a few miles above Bhadugaon. 

 Having been hard pushed the previous day, we hoped 

 he might lie up here ; and, indeed, there was no other 

 place he could well go to for water and shade. So we 

 circled round the outside of the cover, and, finding no 

 track leading out, considered him fairly ringed. We 

 then went over to the village for breakfast, intending 

 to return in the heat of the day. 



There I was told by one of the mahouts a story, 

 which I afterwards heard confirmed from the lips of 

 one of the principal actors, regarding a notable en- 

 counter with tigers in the very cover where we had 

 ringed the man-eater. It was in 1853 that the two 

 brothers N. and Colonel G. beat the cover for a family 

 of tigers said to be in it. One of the brothers was 

 posted in a tree, while G. and the other N. beat through 



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