TIGERLAND 



being practically obliterated by long furrows, seemingly 

 made by claws, deep into the flesh ; the chest, arms, and 

 legs too, were all severely clawed, also the hands and feet. 



Useless as it seemed to move him, humanity required 

 this should be done, for while there is life there's hope, and 

 a hospital was not many miles away : a litter of twigs and 

 branches was accordingly constructed on the spot and in it 

 the mutilated body carried to the village. Here a " dooli "* 

 and bearers were procured, and the unfortunate individual 

 was sent into the hospital. 



The next day the Forest Officer, who was proceeding 

 home on furlough, resumed his journey to the railway 

 station, en route to Bombay, and soon, amidst new scenes 

 and faces, the matter passed out of his mind. 



Six months had gone by since the incident above 

 related ; the Forest Officer, presumably named Jackson, 

 had just returned to the district at the expiration of his 

 leave and was again, shortly after his return, occupying 

 the rest house. 



One evening on his way back from the forest, he came 

 upon a hut built in the lower branches of a tree, a mile or 

 so from the village, and at the bottom of the tree, cooking 

 his evening meal, was seated an individual who, as he 

 stood up and " salaamed " to the " sahib," presented a 

 most remarkable appearance. 



His head and face were swathed in a huge " pugri," 

 leaving no features visible except the eyes. In figure, he 

 was tall and unusually broad-shouldered, but his arms and 

 legs were lean and withered, and his hands and feet mere 

 bones, covered with skin and claw-like in appearance. 



Being questioned as to his presence there, for outsiders 

 are not permitted to reside within the forest, he produced 

 a written permit, dated some months before and signed by 

 the officer then in charge. 



No one seemed to know from whence he had come, but 

 to the forest guards and villagers he was known as the 

 " man without a face," and finally, with the superstition 

 common to this class, had come to be regarded as some 

 mysterious holy being specially favoured by the gods. 



* Palanquin. 

 114 



