FIGHT WITH A TIGRESS 61 



advanced, but although my elevated position gave me a great 

 advantage as far as seeing was concerned, yet my seat was very 

 insecure the charah wobbled about, and I had two weapons 

 to look after. We had my howdah in camp, but there was 

 no time left to send for it. We had great difficulty in inducing 

 our elephants to advance ; they kept trumpeting, shuffling 

 their feet along the ground, knocking the tips of their trunks 

 on the hard earth or against their feet showing, in fact, all 

 the symptoms of being in a blue funk. The tigress had 

 shown good generalship in her tactics, for she had succeeded 

 in thoroughly demoralizing our steeds, and had rendered the 

 task of slaying her a most difficult one. 



However, we forced them into the long grass and started 

 her again. No sooner was her rush heard than all the hathees 

 except mine formed a close phalanx and ran for their lives, 

 taking Boyle with them. Mine did not retreat, but he was 

 very unsteady, swaying about and kicking up the earth with 

 his fore-foot To shoot accurately off his back was impos- 

 sible ; he was a fine young tusker of the very highest caste, but 

 had not been broken in for shooting. I told my mahout, a 

 Mussalman, to force his steed into a patch of grass into which 

 the tigress retired. Before I reached it, Boyle, with the other 

 elephants, joined me. I could see the grass moving as the 

 tigress swayed her tail to and fro, and I knew she meant 

 mischief. Shoayjah, a Burman shikarie, had come up, and 

 mounted one of the leading elephants ; he urged me to fire at 

 the moving grass. I did so, and as the movement ceased I 

 thought I had made a lucky shot and slain the tigress. I 

 told the mahout to push his elephant in ; we had not gone 

 above 10 yards, when the tusker began to protest by sundry 

 shakings of his body and pitiful cries, but still his head was 

 towards the foe. 



She rushed out like a shot from a catapult, and although I 

 fired and hit her, she closed, and seized the elephant by the 

 right foot ; but he, with a mighty effort, jerked her off, and 

 threw her to a distance of some 10 or 12 feet. As she lit 

 on her back, close to Boyle, whose steed was in full flight, 

 he fired and shot her through the stomach. I too, fired, and 

 hit her somewhere. But she picked herself up and went into 

 a thicket close by. By this time I was getting riled, and 



