264 



HAUNTS AND HOBBIES 



accompanying the screams there was a deep, mufifled 

 roar. 



There was such a turmoil that it was some time before 

 I could ascertain what had happened. Then I learnt 

 that a tiger had entered the patch of coarse grass, had 

 caught a wild hog, and was devouring it. The screams 

 continued for some time, but growing fainter and 

 fainter. Presently they ceased, as did also the muffled 

 roars ; at the same tim.e the horses became quiet, and 

 the elephant stopped his trumpeting. We concluded 

 from this that the tiger had finished his meal and had 

 departed. 



The next morning the patch of grass was examined. 

 In an open space among the clumps of grass we found a 

 large wild hog lying dead ; one hind leg had been 

 completely devoured, and the blood apparently also 

 sucked out of the rest of the body. After this I was 

 careful never to encamp near patches of this tall grass, 

 nor adjacent to a wooded ravine. 



The reason that tigers are so rarely seen is that they 

 mostly pass the day in slumber and in the recesses of 

 the forest and grass jungles. Occasionally, however, 

 they do wander abroad, and then they are sometimes 

 met with. A gentleman I knew had once this ex- 

 perience. It was in the Shewalics. He was driving 

 through one of the western passes, on his way to 

 Mussoorie. At a turn in the pass, to his consternation, 

 he beheld a tiger ; it was on the other side, some little 

 way in advance, and walking leisurely onwards in the 

 same direction as himself 



After a moment's hesitation he decided to drive on in 



