122 FLESH-EATERS OF THE LAND 



leaning over the shoulders of the Tiger, he drove the point 

 of the nine inches of steel into the animal's heart. There 

 was a terrific roar, the bed was hurled up and the man was 

 dashed against the wall to sink into unconsciousness, in 

 which he was found later by the side of the dead beast, 

 which he had despatched by that one desperate thrust. 



The Tiger is not infrequently trapped, and still more often 

 it is attracted by the cries of a live bait, and is then shot 

 by the hunters, stationed on a platform in a neighbouring 

 tree. From the very nature of the Sunderbunds it is diffi- 

 cult to hunt the tiger in that region ; but in the Terai, the 

 jungle belt approaching the foot of the Himalaya, there is 

 more chance of success by beating the covert with elephants. 



* There is something very solemn and impressive about a 

 tiger beat,' says Major C. S. Cumberland. ' There is a long 

 line of black backs, the elephants moving at a funeral pace. 

 Not a sound is heard but the swish of the grass as their 

 huge carcasses brush along. At intervals down the line the 

 sportsman stands up in his howdah. Every one is on the 

 tiptoe of expectation, including the elephants, who know 

 what they are there for/ 



Sometimes the Tiger launches itself out of cover and 

 springs on an elephant, clawing furiously at its hide, which, 

 tough as it is, receives frightful lacerations. If the elephant 

 can shake the beast off, it either kneels on it to crush it at 

 once or gives it a kick that sends it flying twenty paces off 

 with broken ribs. The elephant may even fall in the hope 

 of rolling on its enemy, in which case the persons in the 

 howdah are in considerable danger from friend and foe alike. 

 ' Usually a well-directed shot catches the Tiger fair, and over 

 he goes. Or he may go on to lie up in a real thick place and 

 take a deal of finishing, sometimes fighting and charging to 

 the last, and sometimes dying like a cur, for Tigers, like 

 human beings, vary much in character/ 



Mr. Sainthill Eardley-Wilmot, late Inspector-General of 

 Woods and Forests to the Government of India, returned 

 to England in April, 1909. During his thirty-five years' 

 service he killed 130 Tigers, nearly all of which he en- 

 countered while he was on foot in the course of his daily 

 duty in the forests and jungles of India and Burma. 



