THE TKAIL OF THE TIGEE 297 



gun. For that reason never approach cover that 

 can hide a tiger until it has been explored, and 

 make it a rule to believe every piece of this kind 

 of cover does hold a tiger until you have proved 

 that it does not. Tiger hunting in any form is 

 dangerous business, and following a wounded one 

 should depend entirely on the nature of the jungle 

 into which the beast has retreated. If the cover 

 is dense— keep away until you are re-inforced and 

 even then don't venture to drive him out unless 

 you have a body of spearmen that will stand firm ; 

 unlike the valiant boar, a tiger will not, as a rule, 

 charge a party that is bunched and holding its 

 ground. Nor under ordinary circumstances is an 

 unwounded tiger apt to charge unless you stand 

 in his only avenue of escape. Tiger shooting, in 

 a word, is so variable and always so dangerous that 

 without a companion of suitable temperament and 

 experience the average hunter should not engage 

 in walking up the quarry ; and not then unless he 

 carries a level head. To the man so constructed 

 that he can not keep cool I say with all emphasis— 

 don't go tiger hunting. An excellent aid to keep- 

 ing cool is a double barrel rifle ; and a maxim worth 

 remembering is never to fire your last cartridge at 

 a retreating tiger, because if you wound him he is 

 likely to change his mind about running away— 

 and a tiger coming your way, uttering his short, 



