BULLET AND SHOT 



the party as rapidly as possible; while the shikarrie, 

 who has been stationed in some village near the 

 spot to look after the tying, should at once proceed 

 to turn out a sufficient number of beaters, and to 

 keep them collected ready for work. Once the 

 villagers have gone to their fields, any attempt to 

 collect men enough for a drive would be hopeless. 

 As soon as the sportsmen receive the information, 

 they should start to ride to the spot. This they 

 will probably have to do at a walking pace, as a 

 native guide must show them the way ; and they 

 should moreover cause all necessaries for the day 

 to be taken with them, and not permit the carriers 

 of the same to lag behind. 



And here it is necessary for me to digress a little 

 in order to describe that most excellent adjunct 

 to tiger shooting, as prosecuted in the south of 

 India, viz., the " shooting -ladder." This is made 

 of bamboo, two stout canes, as straight as possible, 

 forming the sides, the rungs being made of split 

 pieces of the same, through each extremity of 

 which, outside the holes made in the big bamboos 

 to receive them, a peg is thrust to keep all firm. 



About sixteen feet is a good length for a shoot- 

 ing-ladder ; and at a distance of, say, five feet from 

 its top, a wooden seat, in place of a rung, is let 

 in, and is fixed at such an angle that, when the 

 ladder is placed leaning against a tree, the seat 

 becomes parallel with the ground, and therefore 

 flat and comfortable to sit upon. 



The top rung should be about one foot from the 

 end of the ladder, and should be made extra strong. 



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