AMONG TIGERS. 515 



May \8t. — ^Tlie rain continued througli the uiglit, 

 and only cleared away at daylight. In two hours 

 I started, though I found myself ill from such con- 

 tinued exertion and exposure to a binning sun and 

 drenching rains, and, more than all, from drinking so 

 many different kinds of water in a single day. I was 

 accompanied by a soldier who was one of the eight 

 who went out to hunt the tiger that killed so many 

 natives in such a short time. He repeated to me all 

 the details of the whole matter, and assured me that 

 a piece of the brute's tongue was found on the ground 

 just as the captain said, and that, when they had se- 

 cured her, they found that a part of her tongue was 

 gone. 



We had not travelled more than half a mile be- 

 fore we came upon the tracks of two tigers, a large 

 one and a small one, probably a female and her 

 young, which had passed along the road in the same 

 way we were going. The perfect impressions left by 

 their feet showed they had walked along that road 

 since the rain had ceased, and therefore not more 

 than two hours before us, and possibly not more than 

 ten minutes. We expected to see them at almost every 

 turn in the road, and we all kept together and pro- 

 ceeded with the greatest caution till the sun was high 

 and it was again scorching hot. At such times these 

 dangerous beasts always retreat into the cool jungle. 



For eight paals from Bunga Mas the road was 

 more hilly than it was yesterday. In many places 

 the sides of the little valley between the ridges were 

 so steep that steps were made in the slippery clay 

 for the natives, who always travel on foot. Seven paals 



