Tiger Shooting. 5 i 



and thankful I was to see the dawn of day and hear 

 the jungle fowls proclaim that sunrise was at hand. 

 Losing no time I descended to solve last night's 

 mystery, the sight that met my eyes was marvellous- 

 A huge rock snake, a python, just over twenty-one feet 

 in length, lay coiled round the body of the tiger, whose 

 fangs in turn were imbedded in the back of the snake's 

 head, while the reptile's folds, after enveloping the 

 tiger, had got a purchase by lashing its tail round the 

 adjoining sapling, and so assisted the vast muscular 

 power it possessed in crushing the tiger to death. 

 On examining the corpse of the man, we found saliva 

 or slime over the face and the upper part of the 

 body, and so I have no doubt the snake had thus 

 prepared the human prize for swallowing when the 

 tiger sprang upon it, resulting in the two meeting 

 their deaths as described. The movements of the 

 man's body were doubtless cavised by the snake's 

 pressure and by its progress round and about the 

 carcase. The python, though dead some hours, had 

 still sufficient muscular power left to make it appear 

 dangerous. These reptiles are properly called boa 

 constrictors, for their power of contraction, when they 

 have a purchase to aid them, is immense, and I have 

 heard the natives tell wonderful tales about their 

 strength, even to their making buffaloes their victims. 

 Snakes may have the power, but as they could not 

 make a meal off a buffalo, they would have no object 

 in assaulting them, unless under similar circumstances 

 to those related above. 



Having procured coolies, with the united strength 

 of twenty men, aided with coils of strong rope, we 

 unwound the snake from its hold on the tree, when a 



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