FAILURES 227 



Nanur, the guard, had ordered men the day before 

 to be ready to beat in case there should be a kill, 

 as we should not have time to collect them in one 

 morning. They came, I saw, but the tiger conquered, 

 as he had a good dinner and escaped unharmed. 

 It was an ideal place to beat, a valley with hills 

 all round and a nullah running straight up to my 

 tree, down which I could see a long way. There 

 was an open stretch covered with thick high grass 

 on my left, and it looked unlikely that the tiger would 

 try to go through that, but men were placed in trees 

 along the edge of it to stop him if he should want 

 to break through there. After the beat began I 

 saw the stops climbing down from their trees and 

 moving about, and I watched them grouping together 

 and going off to the top of a small hill, to be out of 

 the tiger's way ! I could not of course shout to them 

 to stay where they were, on account of making any 

 noise. There were two tigers in the beat ; one broke 

 away through the side at the start, so Nanur said 

 afterwards, and the other came briskly trotting 

 along in the nullah straight for me. This really 

 looked hopeful. He came steadily on until within 

 eighty yards, then suddenly turned, jumped up the 

 nullah bank and disappeared into the long grass, 

 towards the trees the stops should have been in. 

 That was the last I saw of the tiger, and there was no 

 movement in, or waving of, the grass as he passed 

 through it to show his whereabouts. He went near 

 the men in trees on the hill and they did not attempt 

 to turn him, though they made plenty of noise and 

 great demonstrations to try and turn a poor scared 



