78 SIR VICTOR BROOKE CHAP. 



of his body came into view. He was a very large, 

 gaunt, powerful -looking brute, very light- coloured, 

 with a remarkably large head. He walked straight 

 away from me, and seemed to be looking for some- 

 thing. Could it be possible he had missed the 

 bullock ? It might be, and if so, he was going off 

 back to the jungle. It was one of those crises which 

 require sharp, quick decision. It was getting dark 

 fast. In ten minutes more I should not be able to 

 shoot ; it must be risked. I took up Purdey, aimed 

 just as quietly at him as if he was a rabbit (I never 

 felt less excited about a shot), probably caused by 

 the feeling of not being able to kill him, from the 

 position he was walking in. Unless I had broken 

 his spine it was perfectly impossible to kill him. 

 Only his hindquarters were to be seen. I pulled 

 gently, over went the huge brute, and commenced 

 roaring and tearing up the ground. In a second, 

 however, he was up again, and dashed into the 

 bushes, still roaring savagely. 



This tiger was never got, though next day they 

 tracked him on foot by his blood for a long distance, 

 a very dangerous proceeding, which most men in India 

 consider simple madness. Brooke, however, justifies 

 himself in the following words : 



This is the worst and by far the most dangerous 

 part of tiger-shooting. Many, very many, men leave 

 a tiger alone after he is wounded, so desperate do 

 they deem, and rightly too, the work of following 

 them up. This, however, I do not consider fair. By 

 wounding him you render him desperate, and certain 

 death to any one going near him unarmed. Besides 

 that you leave the poor brute in pain, and no one 

 with any love and admiration for what is grand, could 

 think complacently of these really noble animals 



