TIGER SLAYER BY ORDER 



which happily stopped the flow of blood, and wetting 

 the bandage with water from a stream near at hand, ran 

 off to a neighbouring village, whence he returned shortly 

 with a palki and some bearers to convey the wounded man 

 to camp. 



He found him quite conscious again, and able to explain 

 how the accident had occurred. It appeared that while 

 waiting for the beaters to come up, he had suddenly espied 

 what looked to him like the footprints of a bear under his 

 tree. Forgetting the risk he ran, and unwittingly adding 

 to it by not removing a thick black ulster he had on, he 

 climbed down and was stooping to examine the marks more 

 closely when he felt the bullet strike him. 



Fortunately, as it happened, the bullet was an ordinary 

 one, fired from a smooth bore, hence the wound was not 

 serious and eventually healed up, but the bullet was never 

 extracted, and though he made a complete recovery, he 

 carried it in his shoulder to his death, which occurred from 

 natural causes many years later. 



This incident should be a warning to all sportsmen never 

 to leave their posts until the last beater has come up, for 

 there is not only the danger from the tiger lying up, until 

 he is almost trodden on, but, as in the instance quoted, of 

 the rash sportsman being made a target of himself. I 

 have known of even experienced sportsmen nearly coming to 

 grief in this way. 



Before we broke up the Christmas camp I have referred 

 to, we had a most unpleasant experience with some bees, 

 which I must relate if only to prove how dangerous the 

 stings from these insects can be. 



One day during our afternoon siesta we were roused by 

 a terrible commotion in the camp caused, as we learnt later, 

 by a police sepoy lighting his cooking fire under a tree in 

 which there happened to be several nests of bees. 



In a moment our quiet, peaceful camp was transformed 

 into a veritable pandemonium, many large swarms having 

 been roused by the smoke from this fire. I ran out at 

 once and cut the heel ropes of the horses, being horribly 

 stung about the face and hands during the process, for 

 the little brutes hung on to me like bulldogs. One of the 

 ladies in the camp wisely sought refuge under the mosquito 

 64 



