192 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SHIKAR 



kill and must have stood there motionless for five 

 minutes, then he came on, still in the shadow, to the 

 spot where we had tied it. He had to cross a small 

 strip of light and then stood again waiting several 

 minutes, looking at the calf, although he did not go 

 right up to it. 



Now I had arranged for the tiger not to come till 

 ten o'clock, as I judged that by that time the dead 

 calf would be in full moonlight, and now he had 

 come distinctly before he was due : the calf lay in 

 deep shadow. As far as I could see the tiger 

 advanced again a step or two, waited a minute, 

 evidently thought something was wrong, and then 

 quietly turned back on his tracks. Something had 

 put him off ; my only chance of a shot would probably 

 be when he re-crossed that yard or two of light. 

 When he was in the middle of it I shot, and he fell 

 into darkness. I heard him give two bounds and 

 he was under thick cover. He stopped and I think 

 fell again. I tried my utmost to make out where 

 he was ; if I knew at all which dark bush he was under 

 I might fire into it. He made another rush only 

 a few yards then fell again, and another, but this 

 time he lay for very much longer ; he may have been 

 thirty yards from me now. He wandered on very 

 slowly next time and I heard him lie down, where 

 he must have lain for an hour. Then he moved off 

 slower than ever, and the occasional soft crackle of 

 leaves grew fainter and fainter and I heard no more. 

 A chital gave his call of warning, as did also a 

 peafowl, so I knew that the tiger was still moving. 

 All these calls tell one so much in the jungle. 



