244 WILD MEN AND WILD BEASTS. 



yards from the scene of the conflict. I did think once or 

 twice that I heard the ping of a stray bullet, but if I did, they 

 sped harmlessly. All hands soon assembled round the tiger, 

 and loud and energetic were the exclamations of " Wah ! 

 Wah ! " as the opium-boxes were passed freely round. 



Soon after we mounted our horses and were on our way 

 back to the camp, when we came on the body of a dead pony 

 over which an elderly cultivator stood, rending the air with 

 his lamentations. He said his pony had been killed by a 

 spear-thrust from one of the chiefs in my train, and as he 

 named the man, I directed him to attend next morning, 

 promising to inquire into his case. I requested two of the 

 chiefs to settle it, and they adjudicated their neighbour to 

 pay twenty-five rupees as compensation. In the defence it 

 was stated that the pony, with the cheerful playfulness of his 

 race, had come too near the plump and well-fed mare of the 

 stalwart Rajpoot, who had received him on the point of his 

 lance. 



The land where this tiger was shot was for the most part 

 cropped with poppies. The opium-cultivation is greatly 

 attended to by the population of Malwa, and a large portion 

 of the land-revenue is derived from this source. The poppies 

 are generally grown on the best ground. The land is fre- 

 quently ploughed and manured to the fullest extent practicable. 

 A strong supply of water from wells or rivers is essential. 



The ground is usually divided into small beds about eight 

 feet square, separated from each other by ridges of earth, and 

 all connected by runnels with a main channel leading from 

 the water. On the seed being sown, the water is turned on, 

 and while one man with a pair of bullocks keeps the stream 

 running from the well, another is employed diverting it into 

 the different divisions of the field till the whole is irrigated. 



