A RICKETY HAMMOCK 193 



After a time some animal came up from behind 

 me, something of the cat tribe by the quiet steps, 

 and made a big circle round; then began calling, 

 calling; came towards me, back, off towards the 

 river, round again ; a tiger calling to its mate. Then 

 it began to roar, sometimes very loudly, and called 

 round about for an hour and more. At intervals 

 there was more roaring farther away, until at last 

 it died away in the distance. 



I fell asleep and must have slept for a long time 

 when I was awakened by a crunching of bones 

 underneath : the moon was gone and all was 

 darkness. 



All I could do was to sit and listen, and I hoped 

 the animal might still be eating there when dawn 

 came. When grey light came, which it did soon, 

 there was nothing, so whatever it was had quietly 

 stolen away. Now the morning sounds began, the 

 peafowl woke up and bird life generally. I climbed 

 down and looked at the kill ; it had been gnawed a 

 good deal along the ribs. When the shikaris came 

 we went to find the tracks the tiger had left. It 

 was exactly as I had heard it all : first the place he 

 had fallen in the bush and a spurt of blood there, 

 drops of blood where he had crawled along, and pools 

 of it on the ground at each place he had lain down ; 

 and he had stopped so many times. It was very 

 open jungle where we followed and the men came 

 on for a short way with me, then they stopped and 

 clustered together and would not come any further. 

 I wanted them to climb up trees and look well about, 

 feeling sure that from above they would see the 



