TIGERS. 79 



The Classic felt a little alarmed when the owl 

 began hooting, but as soon as he heard the Pheall, 

 he tremblingly put his hand on my shoulder, (a 

 liberty no native would presume to take, unless 

 actuated by excess of fear or danger,) and 

 begged, for God's sake, that I would not fire at 

 the tiger, observing, that if I did, one of us would 

 certainly be killed, and that the owl's hooting over 

 us was ominous. The excessive gloominess of 

 the place, and the dead silence that prevailed, 

 unless when interrupted by the dismal cry of the 

 single jackall, or hooting of the owl, made me feel 

 uncomfortable, yet I determined to fire at the 

 tiger, if I should see him within a short distance, 

 confiding in our security, having two guns and 

 other weapons for our defence. The tiger passed 

 within a few yards of us ; and although we heard 

 him distinctly purring as he went along, like a cat 

 that is pleased, we could not see him, in con- 

 sequence of his keeping in the shade of the bushes. 

 In a minute or two after he had passed, we plainly 

 saw the jackall, and heard him cry when very 

 near us. No deer came there to feed during the 

 night. 



About a week after sitting in this michaun, 

 Mr. William Towers Smith, of the Bengal civil 



