TIGERLAND 



appetite diminished, he was still busy with his meal, when 

 a loud, shrill blast, as of a bugle, came pealing through the 

 forest, which sent him scuttling off into the jungle, a good 

 deal faster than he had come. 



The sound w,as repeated several times, accompanied by 

 a tremendous commotion in the forest to our right, and 

 soon a huge elephant, followed by several others, marched 

 slowly past our front, breaking down branches and 

 uprooting the smaller trees as they went crashing through 

 the forest, making as much progress in one hour as we had 

 done the previous day in six ! 



Meanwhile the dawn had broken, and, as the elephants 

 passed out of hearing, we went down to the pool, and while 

 Dhundhos prepared our breakfast, indulged in a good wash. 

 The rest of that day was mostly passed in sleep, for we 

 intended sitting up again that night watching for the 

 tiger. 



Accordingly, as soon as it was dark again, we took up 

 our positions, and for three long, weary hours sat on in 

 total darkness till at last the moon, rising above the trees, 

 lit up the pool, and none too soon, for a minute or two later 

 the same low purring sound I had heard the night before, 

 came suddenly from our right, and evidently quite near. 

 The next moment, the jungle slowly parted, disclosing 

 to our view the head and shoulders of the tiger ! Pausing 

 for an instant, he advanced towards the water, but slowly 

 and very cautiously, with his eyes fixed on the ground, 

 apparently as yet unconscious of our presence. 



But we had covered him with our rifles the moment he 

 appeared, and as he reached the bit of open between the 

 jungle and the water, we fired together, both aiming for 

 the shoulder. 



We could hardly have missed him at the distance, 

 nevertheless, with a roar, appalling in its volume and 

 ferocity, he sprang towards the flash. We fired again, 

 but without any visible effect, and before we could reload 

 he had plunged back into the jungle. 



We heard him there, roaring and struggling for some 

 time, apparently hard hit, and could see the jungle moving 

 where he lay, for he had fallen close to where he entered, 

 and was now, evidently, struggling to get up. 

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