Pelts 



a good time, is that the shikari has to be very 

 careful that he does not inculcate sportsmen with 

 the idea that there is nothing to shoot in his 

 neighbourhood, otherwise his golden harvest will 

 come to a sudden and abrupt end. 



The improvement of rifles and the great drop 

 in price of many of the cheaper patterns which 

 the last few years has seen, is another factor in the 

 case. It tempts the shikari to endeavour to keep 

 the tiger, and especially notable tigers, to shoot 

 them himself and obtain the Government reward. 

 I have known instances, many of us will probably 

 be able to quote cases, where the local shikari or 

 shikaris in the beat of a notorious man-eater, have 

 put sahibs off the track and prevented them having 

 any reasonable chance of a shot at the pest who 

 had established a reign of terror over a district, 

 and for whom the large reward of 500 rupees was 

 offered. With the callous indifference of the 

 native to human life they would rather let the 

 weekly toll of human kills go on until they secured 

 the animal and the reward, rather than help the 

 parties of European sportsmen who arrived on 

 the ground prepared to do all they knew to wipe 

 out the noxious pest. 



I have often heard men say that Government 

 would be wise to grant the heavy rewards offered 

 for notorious man-eaters to bona fide sportsmen 

 only, and not allow native shikaris to claim them. 

 Whilst there is every probability that the man- 



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