NARROW ESCAPE FROM A MAN-EATER 65 



the tigers of the plain, who fatten upon the kine of the 

 people. 



Thus ended as pretty a scrimmage as one cares to be in. 



Charlie Hill's escape from a man-eater has been told by me 

 too often to bear repetition here in extenso^ but I give a 

 brief summary of it. 



He was with a party of Burmese Police in chase of our 

 Shan levies who had mutinied and absconded with their arms. 

 One morning, just after daybreak, he was marching along 

 ahead of his men with only a stout stick in his hand, and his 

 boy and an orderly carrying his gun and rifle, with orders to 

 keep close : of course they loitered. 



He was following a narrow path along a hill -side fringed 

 with grass which much resembles bamboo when young, and 

 thought he heard a slight noise, and thinking it might be a 

 yit or a jungle fowl, he turned round and told his lugalay to 

 hand him his gun. Before the lad could do so, out came the 

 head of a tigress almost within striking distance ; and un- 

 fortunately not only he, but his detachment and his boys saw 

 it too, and halted, crying out " A tiger ! a tiger ! he will be 

 killed ! " without coming to his assistance. Seeing that he 

 could get neither his weapons nor help from those behind him, 

 he pretended to hit the brute a back-handed blow, yelling at 

 her the same time. So far from intimidating her, she rushed 

 in, and Hill who was then in the zenith of his manhood and 

 stood 6 feet 2 gave her a crack on the side of her head 

 which either felled or turned her, and then he turned round 

 and said 



" Give me the gun." 



Hardly were the words out of his mouth when his stick 

 was knocked out of his hand, his right arm pinioned to his 

 side, and the brute was standing over him with her paws on 

 his shoulders, growling like the very devil. He bent his back, 

 and hit at her with his left arm over his right shoulder ; but 

 with a whoop, she came down on his back and he fell as if shot, 

 the tigress going a complete somersault over him. He lost 

 no time in picking himself up on all-fours ; the blood was 

 pouring down his face and beard from two holes in his neck. 

 As the tigress and he got up, they were facing one another ; 



