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A CENTRAL PROVINCE TIGER 



WE had been unsuccessfully tying up baits 

 for tiger at several places round my camp, 

 and I went round with the man selecting 

 what we thought might be more likely spots. By the 

 advice of the village kotwal, we had also sent to 

 tie up about six miles away at Rant a, in a jungle 

 which I had never been in. 



We were coming home late in the evening, when 

 two or three Ranta men came running up in a great 

 state of excitement. It seems they had tied up the 

 decoy bullock at the very edge of the jungle. The 

 jungle covered a good-sized hill, a mile or two long, 

 skirted by open fields. They had tied up securely 

 by the side of a small dry nullah, and had then left 

 the place and had hardly gone sixty yards when they 

 heard a growl and a scuffle. From their account, I 

 do not think they waited a moment to listen but took 

 to their heels. 



I asked what time of day this happened. They 

 pointed, as is their custom, to the height the sun 

 would be at about four o'clock. They added that, 

 after a time, they plucked up courage, and collecting 

 one or two more men, they ventured back to the edge 

 of the jungle. But from a distance they could see 



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