"NIL DESPERANDUM" 



all eager to see, and if possible touch, that dreaded beast 

 the " bagh," a terror familiar to all by name, though few 

 of them had ever seen one dead or alive ; but as this 

 exhibition, unless personally conducted, would probably 

 mean the loss of some of our valued trophies, especially 

 the whiskers, I thought it advisable to bring the entertain- 

 ment to an early close, more especially as we were anxious 

 to have the skin removed as soon as possible. So, leaving 

 Karram Sing to superintend the skinning operation, we 

 went off to our tents and dinner. 



We sat down to the latter meal, cool, clean and re- 

 freshed, about 9.30, and though we were not much more 

 than half an hour over it, there seemed so much to talk 

 about afterwards, that, in spite of the hard day we had 

 spent, it was long past midnight before we sought our beds. 



The next morning we broke up our camp early, and, 

 with a last regretful look at the jungle, wended our way, 

 slowly and reluctantly, back to the station, where we 

 arrived in due course, and, relating our adventures, were 

 for some days the objects of envy to our friends, some of 

 whom had been so sceptical as to our chances of success 

 when setting out on our expedition, and had even tried 

 to dissuade me from going. But, as I have always held 

 that to become a successful sportsman one must never 

 despair, but take all disappointments as part of the day's 

 work, and trust to better luck next time, I had turned a 

 deaf ear to all such discussions, and fortunately, as the 

 sequel proved. 



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