296 THE TRAIL OF THE TIGER 



catches his exquisitely sensitive ear, and when they 

 have been hunted tigers become so wary as to 

 be well-nigh impossible of circumvention. Get to 

 your platform by four in the afternoon, for be- 

 tween that hour and half after eight is the most 

 likely time of his coming, though, as a matter of 

 fact, he may and does appear at any hour of the 

 night. All nicely man-made rules and regulations 

 are violated by this quarry. 



To walk up a tiger is the most dangerous form 

 of sport, but to the man with the heart for it— far 

 and away the most enjoyable. Like other pur- 

 suits of the venturesome, this one should not be 

 attempted by the inexperienced or by those that 

 can not keep cool under nerve-trying conditions; 

 and in common with all hazardous games, expe- 

 rience robs this one of some of its f ormidability. 

 Experience should spell caution as well as skill, 

 and a man having both will know enough never 

 on foot to track a tiger into long grass, or to 

 approach in very close cover. A tiger seeks to 

 conceal himself, and on discovery is moved, in my 

 judgment, by the spirit of self-defence against 

 what he believes to be an attack, rather than by 

 the single desire to kill; though whatever the im- 

 pelling spirit may be, the hunter's position is none 

 the less eased, for the tiger in such jungle can 

 usually move quicker than a man can handle his 



