THE HIGHER NAKliADA. 351 



and found them in a terrible panic, for the tigress, seeing 

 them on the trees, kept walking about and eyeing tlioiu 

 in a cat-and-mouse sort of manner, growling fearfully 

 and lashing her tail about. The first of them 1 came to 

 told me she was then lying down at the foot of a tree 

 further on, watching two Gonds in the branches. 1 soon 

 reached the place : the wretched Cimds were too much 

 frightened to speak, but pointed to the ground below 

 the tree, and sat jabbering like monkeys as I approached, 

 I now made out the tail of the tigress impatiently switch- 

 ing up and down ; she herself l)cing crouched in the long 

 grass, I could not see her body. On perceiving the ele- 

 phant she jumped up, and, making a short run forwards, 

 crouched again. We steadily advanced, and, finding 

 she could not put us to flight, she took to it herself, and 

 suddenly bounded again towards the ravine. I had 

 another shot as she was disappearing over the bank. 

 This time it was the large rifle, and she caught it unmis- 

 takably ; for, on coming to the place where she had 

 vanished, we could hear her down below, growling and 

 struoforlinsr on the ground. The descent here was more 

 gradual, though the bamboo cover was dreadfully thick. 

 The elephant was sliding down on her haunches, stones 

 and earth rolling down before her. The growling grew 

 deeper as we descended, and the noise of struggling 

 ceased, as if the tigress had collected herself for a last 

 charge. The bamboo stems kept whipping me in the 

 face as I stood in the howdah with my double smooth- 

 bore ready for the coup de grdce. My face was soon 

 covered with blood, and my shooting-jacket torn to 

 ribands. A raging thirst parched my throat, for I had 

 now been some five hours in the sun ; and my hat 

 having been swept off on first entering the bamboos, its 

 rays had been for some time beating full on my unpro- 



