A CURIOUS SUPERSTITION 



seated the elephant and was just getting off to measure 

 him, when he got up and crawled back into the covert, 

 getting a shot through the spine as he did so, which prac- 

 tically settled him, though it required another shot through 

 the head to finish him completely. 



He proved to be a full-grown and very massive young 

 tiger, but having an unusually short tail, he only measured 

 9 feet 6 inches. 



My delight at having secured him, and with such com- 

 parative ease, can be better imagined than described, and 

 I lost no time in getting him on to the pad, as I knew 

 that old Birdul must have heard the firing, and would be 

 anxious to know the result. Never shall I forget his look 

 of delight as he saw us approaching, with the head and 

 tail of the tiger falling well over each side of the pad ; 

 and I believe this sight did more towards curing him 

 than all the careful treatment he subsequently received. 



As we got near he called out to me, " It's all right now, 

 sahib " (sir) " you have killed the tiger and saved my 

 life." But it was now high time to get him off to the 

 hospital, so putting him up in the dog-cart, I made the 

 ponies go as they had never gone before, and did the eleven 

 miles just within the hour. At the hospital I insisted on the 

 assistant there making a thorough search, to ensure none of 

 the bites or scratches being overlooked, and had each one 

 well burnt with nitrate of silver in my presence, and so effec- 

 tually, that the old man fairly writhed with the pain, and 

 declared that the tiger had not hurt him half so much. 



However, the result was that in three months' time he 

 was discharged, perfectly cured, and with hardly a mark 

 on him. At one time there were slight symptoms of blood- 

 poisoning, but these yielded to careful treatment, and some 

 six weeks later the plucky old Ghoorka was out tiger 

 shooting with me as usual, though I gave him clearly to 

 understand that there was to be no more getting off the 

 elephant, and that the first time he disobeyed these orders 

 he would be put on frontier guard duty. He certainly 

 never did get off the elephant again without permission, 

 but I verily believe this was more from fear of being 

 deprived of the pleasure of accompanying me on my shoot- 

 ing excursions than from any sense of danger to himself. 



51 



