TIGER SHOOTING IN S. INDIA 



Comfort is everything when combined with 

 efficiency, and, considering that a tiger beat is 

 often of considerable duration, and that the sports- 

 man will find, if he places his ladder at too acute 

 an angle with the tree against which it rests, the 

 rung next above his seat will catch him in the 

 small of the back, thus rendering shooting very 

 difficult, and personal ease out of the question, 

 he will of course place it at a somewhat obtuse 

 angle, comfortable for himself. If the seat be too 

 near to the top of the ladder, the sportsman's back 

 will similarly be brought against the tree, or at 

 an uncomfortable angle against a higher rung, and 

 he will be bent forward in a most miserable posi- 

 tion. 



Having placed the ladder so that the sportsman 

 faces about half-left to the direction of the beat, 

 or at any rate to that of the tiger's probable point 

 of exit, its top should be firmly lashed to the tree 

 by a rope more to prevent the possibility of a 

 wounded beast making a blind rush in the direction 

 of the danger, and so unintentionally upsetting both 

 the ladder and its occupant, than from any fear of 

 an attack by the animal after the shot. 



Even in the former event, the tiger would prob- 

 ably be too startled to take advantage of his 

 opportunity, but the sportsman might be very 

 seriously injured by his fall. 



I regard the ladder as an indispensable adjunct 

 to this mode of shooting tigers. It is light, being 

 easily carried by two men ; can be noiselessly put 

 up, and is equally effectual whether a tree, a 



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