ADVENTURES IN CAMP AND JUNGLE. 73 



get a good shot, when suddenly another tiger came skylarking 

 at him, and, with a playful growl, they both ran across and 

 disappeared behind a rising ground. I had waited for about 

 half-an-hour, hoping to see them again, when I heard my friend 

 fire, and soon after some men came to call me, and I left my 

 tree and joined him. The tigers had come close to where he 

 was posted, and one of them came straight at his goat, sprang 

 on it, and, having killed it, walked forward for a few paces 

 with his tail straight up. in the air. At that moment my 

 friend fired, but unfortunately missed, and the tiger went off 

 at speed. In his way lay a cactus hedge nine or ten feet in 

 height, and this he appeared to have taken in his spring, for 

 we found the footprints deep in the light soil on the far side. 

 The tigers did not return. 



On the following evening we sat up in trees on the other 

 side of the ravines. On this occasion my platform had been 

 built in a prickly babool tree, and was only accessible with a 

 ladder. My friend, having seen me in my place, carried it 

 off to enable him to mount his own tree, about a quarter of a 

 mile off. The moon did not rise till some little time after 

 sunset, and having been out all day I was tired and fell asleep, 

 with my rifle projecting from a small porthole in the screen 

 of boughs. I suppose I turned in my sleep, and thereby 

 raised the stock of the gun, for I was awoke by hearing it 

 rattling through the branches, and on looking down I beheld 

 it on the ground with the stock broken. Having no means 

 of descent, I was unable to recover it, so composed myself to 

 sleep till morning, when my companion returned and enabled 

 me to come down. No tigers had appeared during the night. 



Next day we crossed the Nerbudda, and went to the 

 village of a small chief, who assured us that his country 

 swarmed with game, and that the viUage was nightly beset 



