TIGERS. 81 



off with him at full speed, with his head dangling 

 on the ground. The Classic and all the men 

 were armed with spears and swords, but the attack 

 was so sudden and unexpected, that no resistance 

 was thought of; in fact, they were all so much 

 frightened, that they were incapable of giving the 

 poor man the least assistance. We galloped off to 

 the nearest village as fast as possible, assembled 

 as many people as we could collect, with drums 

 and other noisy instruments, and, with our 

 guns loaded, on horseback, followed the track 

 of the tiger, by the blood of his victim and the 

 locks of hair which caught the thorns as he was 

 dragged along, for more than a mile. I then saw 

 something under a large banyan tree that was 

 surrounded by bushes ; it had not the appearance 

 of the tiger, though I expected he was there ; and 

 with more madness than prudence, I galloped 

 through the bushes with my gun presented to the 

 object; fortunately for me, it was only the remains 

 of the poor man. The tiger, I suppose, hearing 

 the noise we made as we approached, and having 

 glutted his appetite, had skulked away into the 

 deep ravines that were near. 



He had devoured the whole of the poor man's 

 entrails, and the flesh of one leg and thigh. The 



G 



