123 WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS CHAP. 



in breaking back. I accordingly aimed with the No. 12 smooth- 

 bore carefully in the direction pointed out by the mahout, and 



fired The effect was magnificent ; at the same instant a loud 



roar was accompanied by the determined spring of the tiger from 

 its dense lair. My elephant twisted round so suddenly to the left, 

 that had I been unprepared I should have fallen heavily against 

 the rail. Instead of this, my left hand clutched instinctively the 

 left rail of the howdah, and holding the gun with my right, I fired 

 it into the tiger's mouth within 2 feet of the muzzle, just as it 

 would have seized the mahout's right leg. A sack of sand could 

 not have fallen more suddenly or heavily. The charge of S.S.G. 

 had gone into the open jaws. 



The remnant of that skull is now in my possession. The lower 

 jaw absolutely disappeared, being reduced to pulp. All the teeth 

 were cut away from the upper jaw, together with a portion of the 

 bone, and several shot had gone through the back of the throat 

 and palate into the brain. This was a striking example of the 

 utility of a handy smooth-bore in a howdah for close quarters. If I 

 had had my favourite '577 rifle weighing 12 Ibs., I could not have 

 used it with one hand effectively, but the 7 Ib. smooth-bore was as 

 handy as a pistol. The wind-up of the hunt was very satisfactory to 

 my men, all of whom had worked with much intelligence and skill. 



There were so many wild pigs throughout the churs below 

 Rohumari that the tigers declined to kill our baits, as they could 

 easily procure their much-loved food. Every night our animals 

 were tied up in various directions, but we found them on the 

 following morning utterly disregarded. This neglect on the part 

 of the tigers imposed the necessity of marching iu line hap- 

 hazard for many hours consecutively through all the most likely 

 places to contain a tiger. Many of the islands were at this dry 

 season separated from each other by sandy channels where the 

 contracted stream was only a few inches deep ; it was therefore a 

 certain proof, should tigers exist upon the islands, if tracks were 

 discovered on the sand. During the night it was the custom of 

 these animals to wander in all directions, and it was astonishing 

 upon some occasions to see the great distances that the tiger had 

 covered, and the numerous churs that it had visited, either in a 

 search for prey, or more probably for a companion of its own 

 species. If there were no tracks in the channel-beds, it might be 

 safely inferred that there were no tigers in the neighbourhood. 

 Nevertheless I continued daily to beat every acre of ground, 

 and we seldom returned till alxmt 4 P.M., having invariably started 

 shortly after daybreak. 



