TIGERLAND 



steady enough and sufficiently high to be safe from any 

 attack the tiger could make, he felt quite secure ; and so, 

 dismissing the " shikari " and elephant with instructions to 

 stay the night in a village about two miles off and to come 

 for him in the morning, he made himself as comfortable as 

 he could on his lofty perch and waited longingly for the 

 moon to rise, as he feared, in spite of the disturbance 

 caused by his arrival, that the tiger would come while it 

 was yet dark. But apparently " stripes " had no such 

 intention, for two or three long hours passed without any 

 signs of him. 



The moon was now shining brightly and all around was 



as light as day. P noticed that, though there was 



very heavy jungle for miles around, immediately to the 

 right of where he sat the cover was comparatively light, 

 thinning down to low scrub in the direction of the river- 

 bed, w r hich was plainly visible about a hundred yards off. 

 He had completed his reconnaissance and was beginning 

 to find the time going rather slowly when he fancied he 

 heard the soft, muffled tread and low, purring sound, so 

 familiar to the sportsman, wdth which a tiger approaches 

 when suspecting danger. Soon these sounds became so 



distinct and drew nearer so steadily that P felt the 



tiger might show at any moment. He had brought his 

 rifle to the ready when he heard at some little distance off, 

 but rapidly approaching, a noise as of several heavy bodies 

 crashing quickly through the j,ungle fringing the opposite 

 bank of the river-bed, and loud squeals and trumpeting, 

 as if all the elephants in the country had assembled. Soon 

 a gigantic male elephant, with huge tusks, rushed out into 

 the river-bed, and going down it as fast as he could dis- 

 appeared from view. He was followed almost imme- 

 diately by a large herd of some twenty elephants, evidently 

 in pursuit of him, and apparently in a furious rage, for 

 they were squealing and trumpeting as they went and 

 going at a tremendous pace, as though determined to 

 catch the fugitive. 



All chance of the tiger was now, of course, at an end, 

 for, though tigers are not as a rule shy of wild elephants, 

 a disturbance of the kind I have described was enough to 

 scare any wild animal. 

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