TIGERS. 99 



a close part of the road, bordering on a deep 

 ravine, where the bushes were very thick, I was 

 suddenly alarmed by a hideous bark or grunt of 

 an animal close to me, which I could not see, from 

 liis keeping behind a very thick bush. I instantly 

 spurred my horse to get on, but he would neither 

 go forward nor backward, and when urged, began 

 to rear; the animal still remaining behind the 

 bush, grunting quicker and quicker, as if on the 

 point of charging. I had the presence of mind to 

 direct the link-man to pour more oil on his link, 

 with hopes that a larger flame would keep him 

 off; unfortunately, he threw on so much, as en- 

 tirely to extinguish the flame, and every moment 

 I expected that he would spring on one of us, from 

 which I think he was deterred, by hearing the 

 near approach of our second division. 



As soon as I heard them near us, I called out 

 for them to make a loud shout, in which we all 

 joined ; which drove the brute off, grunting and 

 growling horribly. I have since heard tigers 

 make the same kind of grunt, therefore I now be- 

 lieve it was a tiger ; though at the time the cir- 

 cumstance happened, I supposed it to be a bear, 

 which was the cause of my being less alarmed than 

 I should otherwise have been. It was a caution 



