TIGERLAND 



I walked noiselessly along the edge, keeping myself 

 concealed as much as possible, for I now began to fear that 

 the bison, too, had crossed over to this side, and were in 

 the same jungle as myself, hence I had to be more careful. 

 I had proceeded in this way for perhaps three-quarters 

 of a mile, in a state of anxiety and suspense, when I noticed 

 that the valley seemed to be coming to an end, as if the 

 jungles on both sides were converging, and would presently 

 unite. 



My spirits sank to zero at the thought, for should the 

 valley prove to be a cul-de-sac my chance of a successful 

 stalk would be over for the day. However, anything was 

 better than suspense, and anxious to know the worst at 

 once, I hurried on, regardless of the risk. 



I accordingly left the cover, and running along the edge 

 of it for a couple of hundred yards, came suddenly to a 

 bend where the valley, instead of ending, seemed to con- 

 tinue to the right. A closer examination confirmed this 

 supposition, so dropping on my hands and knees, I crept 

 cautiously round the corner. 



It was fortunate that I had taken this precaution, for, 

 as I rose to my feet, behind a sheltering bush, there were 

 the bison, about two hundred yards in front of me, grazing 

 in the open. Examining them through the glasses, I 

 counted nine cows and a bull, the former evidently on the 

 alert, for every now and then one would raise her head and 

 sniff suspiciously around. 



The bull also kept walking to and fro as if he, too, was 

 not quite easy in his mind. The spot on which they stood 

 was about the centre of the valley, which there was perhaps 

 one hundred yards in width, hence my best way to approach 

 them was, obviously, through the jungle I was in, especially 

 as the wind would still be in my favour. 



Having come to this decision I lost no time in carrying 

 it out, for the animals being so restless I feared they might 

 move off. I found the jungle much heavier than it looked, 

 and had some difficulty in making my way through it as 

 noiselessly as I had hoped to do. 



However, by picking my steps carefully, often on tip- 

 toe, and taking advantage of every natural opening, I 

 managed fairly well ; my progress was somewhat crab -like, 

 162 



