168 WILD MEN AND WILD BEASTS. 



I was assured that the tiger was lying, and had been seen by 

 some of the attendants as they were going down to bathe. 

 The river was only some thirty yards in width, and our 

 position was quite accessible had the tiger felt inclined to 

 charge. After some minutes I saw him raise his eyes over 

 the rocks, take a look at us, and sink down again. This he 

 did several times, and at length, thinking I could take him 

 in the head, I fired. He at once sprang up under the over- 

 hanging willow above him and disappeared, passing within 

 a few yards of Bradford, whose elephant trumpeted loudly, 

 and, bolting off, nearly killed him among the trees. 



We never saw the tiger again. The finish had been quite 

 in keeping with the other parts of our expedition, and we 

 both vowed never again to go out with other men's servants, 

 or to attempt to explore an unknown country without proper 

 shikarees. Out of six tigers which we had seen we had 

 bagged none, and one spotted deer was all we had to boast of. 

 Wild dogs were numerous in these forests, and I saw three 

 one morning close to our tents. The natives declared that, 

 but for the presence of the dogs, we should have seen many 

 more sambur and nylghae. In spite of our bad luck we 

 enjoyed our ten days very much, and were sorry when we 

 had to mount and return to cantonments. 



When in the Kautcote jungle we had a good opportunity 

 of noting the predilection of deer for salt. At some distance 

 from our tent was a scarped bank in a dry water-course, 

 and on its surface there was a strong saline deposit. The 

 spot was much frequented by sambur, and the fact seemed 

 known to the shikarees of the district, for, artfully concealed 

 under the root of a tree at the top of the bank, we observed a 

 seat whence, no doubt, many a deadly shot had been obtained. 

 The tracks of the deer were numerous and fresh in the ground 



