ADVENTURES IN CAMP AND JUNGLE. 187 



forced his way. On either side the jungle extended over 

 wooded hills. Altogether our chance of finding the tiger did 

 not seem good, for the main river was joined on both sides by 

 numerous deep and narrow ravines, in any one of which the 

 beast might have lain up. In addition to the elephant which 

 I rode, I was accompanied by another, of whose staunchness 

 his driver was very doubtful. 



Keeping all men on foot at a safe distance, I took Himta 

 in the back seat of my howdah, and, directing the driver of 

 the other elephant to keep abreast, we moved up the river, 

 carefully beating out each patch of cypress. In this manner 

 I worked for some time. Occasionally a hyaena would shuffle 

 off with his back arched and ears erect ; and jackals would 

 trot out into the bright sunlight, looking inquisitively at the 

 advancing elephants ; but no sign of a tiger did we see. At 

 length we came on a large herd of goats, some of which were 

 feeding close to the river-bank, while others were lying down 

 on the moist sand. We were about to leave a bed of cypress, 

 which we had beaten out, and my elephant was standing on 

 a slight hillock, when Himta caught hold of my arm, and 

 pointed down into the covert, almost under the feet of the 

 elephant. The cypress was thick, and about four feet in 

 height ; but, looking down, I could see the striped back of 

 the tiger, who lay perfectly motionless notwithstanding our 

 proximity. 



So dense was the covert that I was unable to distinguish 

 head from tail ; but I knew that a two-ounce ball, either 

 down between the shoulders, or through the loins, must prove 

 an effectual stopper to any beast, so, quietly raising my rifle, 

 I fired. With a savage growl a fine tigress scrambled out 

 and vainly endeavoured to get away. Her hind-quarters 

 were quite disabled, and I had no difficulty in overtaking and 



