220 SHIKAR SKETCHES. 



matter of a tiger's mode of eating his prey, as 

 there have lately been several letters in the Field 

 on the subject, brought forth by a statement in 

 Colonel Barras' book, ' India and Tiger-Hunting,' 

 in which a tiger is said to always begin with the 

 stomach. With all due deference to the gallant 

 colonel, I must beg to differ from him in toto on 

 this point, which is, I think, an important one, 

 and the observance of which will in many in- 

 stances save sportsmen not only much fruitless 

 beating, but also disappointment, for a panther is 

 as a rule a far more difficult animal to rouse 

 during a beat than a tiger. 



To resume, however. When we found the 

 c kill ' was the work of a panther, and saw the 

 nature of the ground, we determined to go and 

 visit the other kill which Lutchman had person- 

 ally inspected, and which he assured us was 

 certainly the work of a tiger, and that, moreover, 

 he had tracked him. 



Accordingly we returned to camp, but Davidson, 

 who was still weak from his illness, did not feel 

 up to any further exertion, and decided to stay 

 at home, so Hebbert and I started with some 

 thirty beaters. On arriving at the scene of action, 

 the Huiri nullah, we found it was almost a small 

 river running through a gorge in the hills, which 

 rose steeply on either side, and were devoid of 



