142 WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS CHAP. 



through the jungle would quickly dislodge a tiger. We now 

 skinned our lute enemy, while a messenger was started towards 

 Moorwarra, 9 or 10 miles distant, to prepare the authorities for 

 the reception of our wounded men in hospital. 



The skin having been taken oil', we discovered a small hole close 

 to the root of the tail, which had not been observed. Upon a 

 close examination with the finger, I found minute fragments of 

 lead, resembling very small shot flattened upon an anvil. The 

 hole was not deeper than 1| inch in the hard muscle of the rump, 

 and the only effect of Berry's '577 hollow Express was to produce 

 this trumpery wound, which had enraged the animal without creat- 

 ing any serious injury. It is necessary to explain that the bullet 

 of this rifle was more than usually light and hollow ; but the want 

 of penetrating power of the hollow projectile, and the dangerous 

 results, were terribly demonstrated, notwithstanding the large 

 charge of 6 drams of powder. 



A comparison of the effect of my '577 with the same charge 

 of 6 drams, but with a solid bullet of ordinary pure lead weighing 

 048 grains, was very instructive. The first shot, when the tiger 

 was bounding in retreat after it had charged the elephant, had 

 struck the right flank, and as the animal was moving obliquely, 

 the bullet had passed through the lungs, then, breaking the 

 shoulder-bone, it was found in its integrity just beneath the skin 

 of the shoulder upon the side opposite to that of entry ; it was 

 very much flattened upon one side, as it had traversed an oblique 

 course throughout, and had torn the inside of the animal in a 

 dreadful manner. The second shot, fired simply to extinguish the 

 dying tiger, passed through both shoulders, but was found under 

 the skin upon the opposite side, flattened exactly like a mushroom, 

 into a diameter of about 1| inch at the head, leaving about half 

 an inch of the base uninjured which represented the stalk. This 

 was a large tiger, and remarkably thick and heavy, with strong 

 and hard muscles, nevertheless the penetration of the soft leaden 

 bullet was precisely correct for that quality of game. If the '577 

 bullet had been made of an admixture of tin or other alloy 

 Jo produce extreme hardness, it would have passed through the 

 body of the tiger with a high velocity, but the animal would 

 have escaped the striking energy, which would not have been ex- 

 pended upon the resisting surface. It is the striking energy, the 

 knocking-down power of a projectile, that is so necessary when 

 hunting dangerous game. I cannot help repetition in enforcing 

 this principle : there is a minimum amount of striking energy in a 

 light hollow projectile, and a maximum amount in a solid heavy 



