TIGERLAND 



planter's post announced that the tiger was on foot. Soon 

 after the elephants emerged on to the track, rumbling and 

 trumpeting with excitement, and were sent round at once to 

 beat up the other portion, which the tiger had just entered. 



This time the beast clung tenaciously to cover, giving 

 the impression it was hit, and it was not until the beat was 

 nearly over that it gave any indication of its presence, 

 then, with a succession of loud hoarse coughing roars, it 

 dashed out on to the track. Once more two shots in quick 



succession rung out from W 's post, for fortune again had 



favoured him, but heedless of the bullets, the tiger gained 

 the cover, then, turning sharply to its right, came crashing 

 through the jungle, heading towards my tree, roaring 

 loudly all the time. It passed across my front, keeping 

 well under cover, until it had reached the edge, then broke 

 out into the open, about eighty yards to my right, evidently 

 making for a larger jungle, some half a mile away, but 

 slowly and heavily as if wounded. However, though now 

 in the open, the tiger was not an easy mark to hit, for 

 between it and my post were several trees and bushes, 

 making the shot almost an impossible one, but it was a case 

 of taking it or none, and being much too keen to miss a 

 chance, I was not to be put off. 



With the butt of the Winchester pressed tightly to my 

 shoulder I watched my opportunity, and as the patch of 

 yellow showed for an instant in a gap between two trees 

 I fired. When the smoke had cleared, the tiger was still 

 going, but a moment later it seemed to stumble, then fell 

 with a crash into a bush, where it lay struggling, evidently 

 hard hit and trying to get up. Meanwhile the elephants 

 had come out on to the path, so quitting our respective 

 perches, we lost no time in mounting and hurried to the 

 spot, prepared for a desperate struggle, for a tiger wounded 

 and at bay is a formidable foe, even though its adversary 

 be mounted on an elephant. However, we had not gone 

 many yards when all movement ceased within the bush, on 

 reaching which we found the beast stretched out at full 

 length and dead as the proverbial door nail. 



The young planter, wild with joy, this being his first 

 tiger, was most grateful to me for having stopped it, observ- 

 ing, as he realized the situation, that " but for my last 

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