290 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 



hazaree," or early breakfast. I asked the shikarie 

 what the deuce he meant by bolting away and leaving 

 me in the lurch, and the poor fellow, all in a tremble, 

 for he expected a thrashing first, for having gone to 

 sleep during his watch, and, secondly, for deserting 

 me said he had been thoroughly demoralised by all 

 the stories he had heard, and so hearing the report of 

 my rifle and seeing me as he thought in the clutches 

 of the devil, he had run a.way and was coming back 

 with the villagers to my rescue. When they heard 

 me fire they were glad to find me safe, and hoped I 

 would forgive him. I told him to run away, get 

 something to eat, and to collect as many coolies as 

 he could, and I would follow up the other brute as 

 soon as there was sufficient daylight for that purpose. 

 The villagers on collecting found a man missing, and 

 before I could get them to act with me, they insisted 

 on searching the jungle close to the village. In half 

 an hour the remains of the poor fellow were found. 

 He had been taken out of his house and dragged 

 some way off and partially eaten, and buib for my first 

 two shots, would no doubt have been entirely de- 

 molished and the bones scattered, but the man-eaters 

 had been disturbed and were doubtless en route to 

 their lair when I fired the second shots. Leaving 

 his sorrowing widow and children and two of the 

 people to cremate his remains for he was a Hindoo 

 I went off to take up the trail. Judging from the 

 blood marks which were scattered on both sides of 

 the narrow path along which he had crawled, I came 

 to the conclusion that the beast had been shot through 

 the abdomen, and expected to come upon him every 

 moment, but the vitality of these animals is marvel- 



