242 Wild Beasts 



prise, and yet shows how they become confused, incapable, 

 and appalled by whatever is beyond comprehension, a 

 feature in the animal's character, by the way, which is 

 much more creditable to its intellect than derogatory to its 

 courage. 



Hill, the officer to whom the adventure happened, 

 relates his own experiences. He was out with a body of 

 native troops after some Shan mutineers at the time, and 

 in a country that Crawfurd, Colonel Yule, Hallett, Colqu- 

 houn, etc., speak of as much infested by tigers. At 

 Yonzaleem a report was brought to him that a scourge 

 of this kind was in the neighborhood, and that fifteen men 

 had been killed in a month ; but duty called, and there was 

 no time in which to go hunting. "We were travelling 

 along a mountain pathway fringed with bamboo-like 

 grass," Hill says, "and I was leading the way about 

 thirty paces, perhaps, in front of the party, followed at a 

 little distance by my lugelay, or Burmese boy, carrying 

 my loaded gun. I had nothing in my hand but my oak 

 stick, but you know what a shillelah it is, and what a 

 thundering blow can be given with it. It was still early, 

 and as I was trudging along carelessly, the men behind 

 me jabbering and talking, I heard a slight noise on the 

 edge of the pathway to my right ; for a second I paid 

 no attention to it, but thinking it might be a jungle-fowl 

 or a pheasant, I beckoned to the boy to give me my gun. 

 He had loitered behind, and before he could reach me, 

 by slow degrees out came the head of an enormous tiger, 

 close to me, almost within hitting distance. Unfortu- 

 nately my lad, and the Burmese escort, saw it too, and 



