Tigers, Gaur and Leopards. 161 



in hiding, or we were too late on the scene. I told 

 the shikarie I did not want an ordinary gaur, but 

 the monster. He said the leviathan was usually about 

 here, and that although he kept to himself, he was as 

 fond of a salt lick as his brothers, sisters, cousins and 

 aunts. At midday we halted in a comfortable shady 

 place on the sloping bank of a stream and partook of 

 our breakfast, with a drop of the " craythur." Know- 

 ing it is no use looking for game in the heat of the day, 

 I took a nap. When I awoke, Shoay-Boh was no more 

 to be seen, and as I should be lost in these solitudes 

 if I ventured to roam about alone, I waited where I 

 was, reading an old newspaper. It was past four, 

 and I was beginning to think something must have 

 happened to the shikarie, when he returned and 

 beckoned to me to follow him. Without a word, off I 

 went, armed with my pet '577, loaded with 6|- drachms 

 of powder and a solid conical in each barrel. After 

 going a mile we crossed over the nullah and made for 

 some hilly-looking ground, where, were it not for the 

 wild beast paths, we could not have progressed at 

 all, for the jungle was so dense and so matted with 

 vines and creepers ; but in about half an hour we 

 got into more open country with bamboo-like grass 

 growing on the sides of the hills. As we walked 

 along Shoay-Boh told me that, finding I was asleep, 

 he had searched about for the slots of the big bull, 

 had found them, and followed him to a knoll not far 

 distant. He had not actually seen the monster, but 

 had heard either its breathing or snoring. The 

 brute's retreat was in such a dense thicket that to get 

 a shot at it it was necessary to climb a tree, and my 

 guide had prepared a bamboo ladder for the purpose. 



M 



