MY LAST AND EXTRAORDINARILY LUC^KY SHOT 



shot " the beast would probably have escaped. How true 

 was this observation he had yet to learn, and not altogether 

 to his satisfaction ! For later on, when examining the 

 carcass, two extraordinary discoveries were made. Firstly, 

 that the bullet which killed the tiger had hit one of the 

 trees, then glancing at right angles, had struck the animal 

 behind, and travelling through its body was found buried 

 in the muscles of the neck ! 



Secondly, and stranger still, was the fact that this was 

 the only bullet in the body, for, of the four fired by the 

 young planter, not one had touched the beast ! That he 

 had missed four times seemed to him incredible, but there 

 was no other mark upon the skin not even a graze. On 

 the other hand, the bullet found, when cut out, proved to 

 be a solid one, such as he knew I was using at the time, 

 whereas those he had fired himself were the ordinary, hollow, 

 copper-cored express. 



With such conclusive evidence against him the young 

 sportsman was fain to accept his disappointment, but, as 

 I now laughingly remarked, there was some consolation in 

 the fact of having taken part in a performance probably 

 unparalleled in the annals of tiger shooting ! Nevertheless, 

 he was much disgusted at having lost his chance of bagging 

 his first tiger, but like all young sportsmen who had never 

 seen one before, he had been too eager, firing far too 

 hurriedly each time, and probably only in the direction of, 

 rather than at the beast itself, as such novices are apt to do. 



This may seem incredible, but none the less is often 

 done, for it must be borne in mind that a tiger, seen for 

 the first time at large in its own jungles, is a sight few 

 sportsmen no matter how familiar they may be with 

 other animals as dangerous can look on without experi- 

 encing a feeling of intense excitement, coupled with an 

 almost uncontrollable desire to possess its head and skin. 



It is this insatiable longing, then, to secure these precious 

 trophies that makes the young sportsman nervous and 

 prompts him either to shoot too quickly, as soon as he 

 sights the animal, instead of waiting till it gives him an 

 easier shot ; or, on the other hand, to delay too long, and 

 thus have to chance a longer and less easy shot. Not that 

 my performance on this occasion had been anything to be 



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