INDIAN SHOOTING 203 



exciting show, even before the tiger charges the howdah elephants, 

 which he seems to recognise at once as the real enemies he has 

 to fear. 



The second way of hunting tigers by beating them out is 

 that generally practised in Central India, Bombay, and Madras ; 

 here, though a few elephants may be employed as they are 

 in Central India, their chief use is for following up wounded 

 animals, and not for obtaining the first shots. The circum- 

 stances of tiger hunting in these two districts are entirely 

 different. 



Instead of the seas of high grass in which tigers are found 

 in the Terai, the usual beats in Central and Southern India are 

 densely wooded ravines, often wath precipitous banks. The 

 modes of hunting vary slightly in different districts, but the 

 method perfected by the Central India Horse parties is the 

 one generally adopted. It is as follows : a Ime of country 

 for the party is decided upon, and the camp is preceded by 

 three or four pairs of shikaris, w^ho practically form a line 

 of scouts ten or twelve miles ahead of the camp. These men 

 visit all the known tiger nullahs, and on obtaining infor- 

 mation from the villagers tie up young male buffaloes (the 

 cheapest animals that can be bought, as they are of little use 

 except to train as pack animals, and even then are not as good 

 as bullocks for the purpose) as baits in all the likely spots 

 within reach of the village ; the baits are visited next morning, 

 and reports of kills sent in to head-quarters. The head of the 

 party, after receiving the reports from all the country round, is 

 then able to decide on his plan of operations, selects one or 

 more beats for the day's work, and orders the remainder of the 

 shikaris to keep on tying up. The shikaris of the beat selected 

 assemble the beaters, sixty or a hundred men being engaged 

 acccrding to the ground. Operations begin about noon, 

 when the tigers are pretty sure to be lying up. The guns, 

 usually four in number, as there is rarely room for more, draw 

 lots for their trees (this is generally done for each beat), and 

 I take up their positions as quietly as possible. Each gun is 



