156 WILD MEN AND WILD BEASTS. 



to our camp when we heard shouts from the covert, followed 

 by the cry that a man had been seized by the tigress. 



It turned out that a party of men, unconnected with us, 

 who were passing near t}ie place, had heard the shots, and 

 from motives of curiosity had joined our people at the spot 

 where the chief had killed the second cub. When all had left 

 the covert, one of these men missed the scabbard of his knife, 

 and returned to the spot where the cub had fallen, supposing 

 he had dropped it there. He was accompanied by one of his 

 friends, and as they approached the spot they came on the 

 tigress licking the blood from the dead leaves. She charged 

 on them at once, and as the unfortunate men turned to run, 

 one of them was dashed to the earth. The tigress seized him 

 in her teeth by the waist, driving her fangs deep into his body, 

 and shaking him as a dog would a rat She then slunk back 

 into the willows, and had disappeared by the time we reached 

 the place. 



"We feared from the first that the man's case was hopeless, 

 but we had him carefully carried to the tent, where we 

 dressed his wounds, and did all in our power, but he sank 

 fast, and died next morning. 



Apart from the feeling of regret for the poor man, we 

 feared the event would seriously affect our success during 

 the rest of the expedition ; for though we were in no way to 

 blame, and the man had met his death solely by his own rash 

 act in returning to the jungle, yet he had died in our camp, 

 and we knew we should get all the credit of his death among 

 the country folks. We gave his friends money for the funeral 

 expenses, and they carried off the body to be burnt at his 

 native village. 



Soon after they had left we went forth to hunt in the 

 bed of the Watruck river, a few miles above the scene 



