HOW I KILLED THE TIGER. 5 



things he has suffered, and soon becomes as expert 

 as the horse at the Covent Garden Circus that 

 walked the tight-rope. By the time I had shaped 

 the bullets to fit the gun, we had arrived at the 

 crowd of natives, who were in a condition of 

 febrile excitement, chattering like a lot of magpies. 

 I now loaded my gun, and by the time it was 

 ready, the natives had quieted down a little. 

 The Mundle was bursting with importance, and 

 eager to impart information as to the tiger's where- 

 abouts. It appeared that the tiger had been first 

 sighted by the man who had gone up the cocoa- 

 nut tree (Cocoa-nut Palms : see Appendix) to cut 

 some fronds for thatching. On looking down 

 from the top of the tree, he had espied the animal 

 in the mulberry field, and, being himself well out 

 of reach, he shouted with the full strength of his 

 lungs, so that the villagers turned out en masse. 

 I was still sceptical about the tiger, adhering to 

 my original idea that it would turn out to be a 

 leopard, as it is very unusual for tigers, unless 

 they are man-eaters, to take up their quarters 

 during the day-time in such an open spot as this, 

 especially as the mulberry was at this season of 

 the year destitute of leaf, and afforded very little 

 shelter. The mulberry fields are generally sur- 

 rounded by a Pogah, or bank, upon which 

 bamboos are planted, and grow luxuriantly, forming 



C 



