SHOOTING THE FELID^ OVER BAITS 71 



nabbuk some twenty feet high or more with a bushy 

 top. However, I made quite satisfactory machans 

 in willows and also acacias, and if there is much 

 undergrowth, so that animals cannot look readily 

 upwards, almost any tree will do for a machan. I have 

 heard the opinion advanced that 45 is the angle of 

 sight of a tiger which is not deliberately looking 

 upwards, and it stands to reason that all of these 

 animals pay very little attention to what is going on 

 in the tree-tops, for even a leopard could scarcely 

 hope to capture his prey there. If the watcher in the 

 machan does attract the attention of his quarry, the 

 only policy to pursue is to remain absolutely still, 

 and no greater blunder could be committed than the 

 gradual withdrawal of the head, whilst one is the 

 subject of intent scrutiny. 



A consideration for his own safety will probably 

 prompt the sportsman to construct his machan 

 some twenty feet from the ground. A suitable tree 

 often overhangs the high bank of a dried-up river- 

 bed, and if there is a long drop below, he will be 

 fairly safe quite near the ground. If the surroundings 

 are open, and the tree affords poor concealment, the 

 machan should be constructed as high up as possible. 

 Other things being equal, a solitary tree should not 

 be selected, but rather one of a group, and it is an 

 excellent thing to peg out the goat with an opaque 

 screen of bushes on the far side of it, so that an 



