266 



HAUNTS AND HOBBIES 



Most of the tigers whose skins were brought in had 

 been shot from platforms built on the branches of trees, 

 or from behind a barricade of some kind or other ; but 

 in some instances they had been shot in the most 

 sportsmanHke manner by a hunter on foot, and with no 

 other protection than his own firearm. One such case I 

 especially remember. An elderly man, a hunter, or, to 

 use the native term, " a shikaree," by profession, came to 

 me with two skins ; one skin was that of a tiger, the other 

 that of a bear. He stated that he had shot them the 

 day before in the forest, and he brought them to show 

 and so claim the reward. In reply to my inquiries, he 

 described to me the whole adventure. 



He had heard of a tiger, and gone out in search of it ; 

 he found it, and shot it dead. He had just reloaded, 

 when he heard a crashing among the trees behind ; he 

 turned and saw a bear coming towards him. The 

 situation was alarming, but the man kept his presence 

 of mind ; he waited till the bear was quite near, 

 and then fired and shot it, as he had the tiger also, 

 dead. 



Now, considering that the man was old, and that he 

 had no better weapon than a matchlock, the feat was 

 certainly a remarkable one. From the inquiries I made, 

 I satisfied myself that the man's story was true, and the 

 two skins also bore testimony to its correctness, for they 

 showed that each animal had been killed by a single 

 bullet. 



The bear of the Doon is certainly small, but still for 

 a man it is a most deadly antagonist ; and, moreover, 

 unlike the tiger, there is no escaping it, for it can not 



