38 WILD KEASTS AND THEIR WAYS CHAP. 



escaped if once on foot ; although hunted in some instances for 

 hours, the animal was invariably killed. A remarkable instance 

 of this occurred at the large island of Bargh (,'hur, which includes 

 several thousand acres, the greater portion being covered with 

 enormous grass and dense thickets of tamarisk, which, in the hot 

 season, is the cool and loved resort of tigers. There were also 

 extensive jungles in swumpy portions of the island, so intermixed 

 with reeds and marsh grass of twelve or fourteen feet high, that it 

 was difficult to penetrate, even upon an elephant. 



I was out at the usual early hour, shortly after sunrise, the 

 shikaris having returned to camp with the news that none of the 

 bullocks tied up for baits during the preceding night had been 

 killed ; it therefore remained to try our fortune by simply beating 

 the high grass jungle in line, on speculation, and in the same 

 manner to drive the occasional dense coverts of feathery tamarisk. 



We had proceeded with a line of about fivc-and-thirty elephants, 

 well extended ten yards apart, and in this manner we had 

 advanced about a mile, when our attention was attracted by a 

 native calling to us from a large ant-hill which enabled him to be 

 distinguished above the grass. We immediately rode towards 

 him, and were informed that a tiger had killed his cow the night 

 before, and had dragged the body into jungle so dense that he had 

 been afraid to follow. This was good news ; we therefore took 

 the man upon an elephant as our guide towards the reported spot 



The elephants continued to advance in line, occasionally dis- 

 turbing wild pigs and hog deer, which existed in great numbers, 

 but could hardly have been shot even had I wished, as the grass 

 was so thick and long that the animals could not be seen ; there 

 were only signs of their disturbance by the sudden rush and the 

 waving of the grass just in front of the advancing elephants, who 

 were thus kept in continual excitement. 



In about twenty minutes we emerged from the high grass upon 

 a great extent of highly cultivated land, where the sandy loam 

 had been reduced to the fine surface of a well-kept garden. 

 Bordering upon this open country was an extensive jungle com- 

 posed of trees .averaging about a foot in diameter, but completely 

 wedged together among impenetrable reeds fully eighteen feet in 

 length, and nearly an inch in thickness, in addition to a network 

 of various tough creej>ers, resulting from a rich soil that was a 

 morass during the rainy season. Although the reeds appeared 

 tolerably dry, they would not burn, as there were signs among 

 some half-scorched places where attempts had been recently made 

 to fire the jungle. 



