CONTENTS 



CHAPTER XVII 



PAGE 



A land of surprises Alarming news Blundering into a quicksand 

 Stuck fast Efforts to extricate the animal A valuable elephant 

 Sinking by inches A pitiable sight Hopelessly embedded 

 We decide to end its sufferings No solid ball Send for 

 steel-tipped bullets Completely engulphed Nothing visible 

 but the trunk The cartridges arrive Too late ! The irony 

 of fate : only six inches below the surface ! Impossible to use 

 a rifle Another plan suggested A terrible but necessary pro- 

 position Finally carried out Some remarks on quicksands 

 Their dangers to elephants . . . . . . .136 



CHAPTER XVIII 



A depressed camp party Discussing the painful incident Gruesome 

 experiences related The district officer an easy winner His 

 story : " The Major's tale " The preface A haunted house 

 The building described Experiences of a visitor The finale 

 The house searched Inquiries : without result An all-night 

 vigil decided on The first two hours of the watch Strange 

 noises heard A sudden light An awful spectacle Inter- 

 rupted by a terror-stricken guest The room vacated Further 

 investigations next morning Strange sounds continue The 

 house finally abandoned Some explanation : many years later 

 A terrible tragedy enacted in the room Later corroboration 

 of the major's tale Mystery unsolved ..... 143 



CHAPTER XIX 



Effects of the elephant's tragic ending on our mahouts Their 

 superstitions Partial verification Continued ill luck in sport, 

 etc. The cold season again News of bison Diligent but use- 

 less labour A feeding ground discovered I erect a " machan" 

 My ignorance of the habits of these animals A disappointment 

 Two curious-looking objects Tigers watching the buffalo 

 A well-thought-out plan The concerted attack Two victims 

 A foolish shot I lose the tigers Melancholy reflections I 

 return to camp A sporting village headman An ingenious 

 device Extraordinary behaviour of the tigers The lantern 

 extinguished : also the sportsman's ardour A night of terror 

 I test his story next morning Conclusive evidence I sit up 

 again but without success A dose of jungle fever Take six 

 months' furlough to the hills ... .151 



CHAPTER XX 



In the hills of Travancore The game found there Tigers included 

 in the list A long -suffering bullock No luck Turn my atten- 



xii 



