138 WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS CHAP. 



him?" lie exclaimed, as he approached within hearing distance. 

 " See what ? " I replied ; " have you wounded a boar ? " "A 

 lx>ar ! No ; I did not fire at a boar, but at a tiger, the biggest 

 that I ever saw in my experience ! He passed close by me, 

 within 20 yards, at the same time that the herd of pigs broke 

 covert ; and I fired right and left, and missed him with both 

 barrels; confound it." 



This was a most important announcement, and I immediately 

 dismounted from my elephant to examine the spot where the tiger 

 had so recently appeared It must indeed have been very close 

 to Berry, as I had not seen the beast, my line of view being 

 limited by the intervening jungle to the portion of the glade across 

 which the pigs had rushed. 



I now measured the distance from Berry's position to the 

 tracks of the tiger, which we discovered after some few minutes' 

 search. This was under 20 yards. The question now most 

 important remained Was the tiger wounded 1 A minute investi- 

 gation of the ground showed the mark of a bullet, but we could 

 find no other. This looked as though it must have struck the 

 tiger, but Berry was very confident that such was not the case, as 

 he declared the tiger did not alter his pace when fired at, but, on 

 the contrary, walked majestically across the narrow glade with 

 his head turned in the opposite direction from Berry's position. 

 He was of opinion that the tiger had not been disturbed by the 

 close report of the rifle, as the noise of 164 beaters shouting at 

 the maximum power of their voices was so great that the extra 

 sound of the rifle bore only a small proportion. 



We looked in vain for blood-tracks, and having come to the 

 conclusion that Berry had fired too high in a moment of excitement, 

 we now made the most careful arrangements for driving the jungle 

 into which the tiger had so recently retreated. 



This formed a contrast to all others that we had beaten during 

 the morning's work, as it had not been burnt. The fire had 

 stopped at a native footpath, and instead of the bare ground, 

 absolutely devoid of grass or dead leaves, the withered herbage as 

 yellow as bright straw stood 3 feet high, and formed a splendid 

 cover for animals of all kinds. I felt certain that the tiger would 

 not leave so dense a covert without an absolute necessity ; at the 

 same time it was necessary to make a reconnaissance of the jungle 

 before we could determine upon our operations. 



Mounting my elephant Moolah Bux, I begged Berry to take 

 Demoiselle, and accompanied by a couple of good men we left the 

 long line of beaters stationed in order of advance along the glade, 



