TIGER-DRIVING. 283 



"Watching for their return to a " hill" or at pools where they are known 

 to drink, is the method chiefly practised by native shikaries. 



Poison, spring-guns, pitfalls, and traps are also brought into play, gen- 

 erally where a man-eater is concerned. 



I have had very little experience of beating in line with a large number 

 of elephants ; this method is hardly applicable to Southern India, where 

 there are few savannahs of long grass as in Bengal, and where elephants 

 are not so easily obtained. 



In shooting either with elephants or beaters, it is essential that the 

 sportsman or some of his men should know the ground well, and the tiger's 

 usual paths to and from the cover to be driven, and the adjacent covers. A 

 tiger scarcely ever moves through very thick cover, preferring paths and com- 

 paratively open passages amongst the bushes ; and in driving along a ravine 

 he almost invariably comes along the bank, very seldom down the bed. It 

 is often of great assistance to have " dummies " of natives' clothes, hung 

 here and there on conspicuous bushes, to guide the tiger, but these should 

 be placed so that he may see them from some little distance and not come 

 upon them suddenly, as in that case he may become alarmed and break 

 away. In driving a ravine, a straight reach, and the point therein where 

 the jungle is narrowest, should be selected by the sportsman for his post. 

 In bends, or where the ravine is tortuous, the tiger is likely to cut across a 

 corner. No beat should be begun too near a tiger for fear of alarming him, 

 and causing him to pass the sportsman too quickly for a good shot. Some 

 tigers show almost as soon as the first shout of the beaters is heard, others 

 will not leave the cover till the last moment. It is a good rule never to 

 be off guard until the last man has left the cover, as should the tiger whilst 

 coming along have detected the sportsman, he may lie close, and let the 

 beaters come very near before he breaks. Tigers and other animals display 

 great intelligence in detecting the quarter from which real danger is to be 

 apprehended, and will break back through a line of shouting beaters to 

 avoid the silent sportsman they may have detected ahead. 



I had particular facilities for enjoying the sport of tiger-shooting on 

 foot, or from trees, at Morlay. My men were thoroughly up to the habits 

 of the game, and we knew every inch of the covers. There is little danger 

 in this sport if the tiger is not turned back by being fired at from in front. 

 When alongside or past the sportsman he generally dashes ahead if wounded, 

 but if fired at the instant he shows himself he may turn back. Beaters 

 should be ordered to mass together as soon as a shot is fired, and to leave the 

 cover in a body. I used an old bugle for signals, a blast from which meant 

 danger. If it was not sounded when a shot was fired my men knew all 



