136 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SHIKAR 



village, saying we should never get enough, and that 

 we could not do with less than two hundred in such 

 a big jungle. Eventually they moved off. 



The syce had been taken ill with something of the 

 nature of pleurisy, so I had sent him to a distant 

 hospital in a cart. (Poor man ! he hated going and 

 the jolting gave him great pain.) So I saddled 

 Fretful Fanny and soon caught up the beaters, and 

 when we reached Ranta a small sprinkling of coolies 

 had arrived. 



While waiting for more men, I went to see the spot 

 where the bullock had been tied. The place was 

 practically in the open and I followed the track along 

 which the animal had been dragged for a short 

 distance. I rather wanted to see the kill in order 

 to find out if a tiger or leopard had to be dealt with, 

 as in my experience a tiger invariably begins to eat 

 at the hind-quarters the rump and a panther at 

 the stomach. If it was the latter, beating would 

 probably be useless and I should have to sit up over 

 the remains. The trail* however, went too far into 

 the jungle and I did not wish to disturb that; nor 

 had I time. I still held to the idea that it was a 

 panther we were after ; but I was wrong. 



The kotwal asked me to choose a tree to sit in and 

 to make arrangements for the beat. 



As I had never ridden out in this particular direc- 

 tion, I knew nothing of the lie of the land, but I 

 agreed to go and look at any place suggested. The 

 local talent in shikar knowledge gathered together, 

 decided matters, and we at once started up a steep 

 rocky path, leaving the beaters behind. We took 



