340 THE HIGHLANDS OF CENTEAL INDIA. 



machan-shooting in general, which he evidently considered the 

 finest sport in the world, as well as the safest. He was full 

 of stories of curious events that had occurred to himself and 

 others ; and told me many as we sat through the long hours 

 together, of which I only remembered one next morning suffi- 

 ciently well to note it down in my journal. Somehow we got 

 on the subject of man-eating tigers, and I happened to ask 

 him if he had ever watched for a man-eater over the body of 

 a man he had killed. 



" Yes," said he, " but I didn't much fancy it, as it stinks 

 abominably ; and besides I don't care to have more to do with 

 ghosts than I can help, after what happened to P&d&m Singh, 

 Th^kur of Ponhrf." 



With much pressing, I got him to tell me this wonderful 

 tale, which was much as follows : " The village of Ponrhi, 

 about thirty coss from here, was haunted a few years ago by a 

 perfect shitan of a man-eating tiger. He was very old and 

 very cunning. There were two ghats that led from the vil- 

 lage to the open country, and on the hill between these he 

 used to live. Whenever he saw any persons leave the village, 

 he would rush across to the gMt they .selected, and waylay 

 them there ; springing out with a roar, and carrying off one of 

 the party like a flash of lightning. Often did the people of 

 the village see him thus stalking some wretched traveller, and 

 sometimes were in time to warn him to take to a tree ; but 

 still oftener the monster was too cunning for them, and ap- 

 proached his victim in the stealthy manner only a man-eater 

 can. He sometimes left his post for a few days, and was then 

 sure to be heard of at some one of the surrounding villages, at 

 his old tricks. The road by Ponhri was soon completely 

 blocked up, and no one would pass that way, although it was 

 the high road to several large villages. The tiger soon became 



