ADVENTURES IN CAMP AND JUNGLE. 259 



not nine feet from the ground, but we could get no higher, so 

 I had to make up my mind to shoot straight and trust to 

 luck. On hearing the beaters advancing the tiger passed under 

 the mass of creepers on my left, and went up the right-hand 

 nullah, at the head of which he was turned by the men on the 

 trees. Eetracing his steps, he came down to the spot where I 

 was posted. I could hear his feet on the dry leaves, but he 

 was completely hidden by the heavy foliage. It was a 

 moment of intense excitement. The sound of the footsteps 

 ceased, then there was a patter on the leaves, and the tiger 

 glided out immediately below me. He was not eight feet 

 from the muzzle of my rifle, and in another instant would 

 have disappeared under the creepers on my right. At that 

 moment I fired, and the heavy two-ounce ball struck him on 

 the base of the neck, dividing the spine. Death was in- 

 stantaneous, and the mighty brute sank down in his tracks. 

 So suddenly had all muscular power ceased that he did not 

 even roll over, but lay with his head doubled under his chest, 

 and his hocks sticking out. Neither tail nor paws moved. 

 Fearing that he might only be stunned, I at once fired my 

 second shot, but I might as well have spared my lead. 



When the men came up they looked first at the beast and 

 then at me ; and then, as if in apology for the part they had 

 taken in his death, they made a sort of shame-faced salaam to 

 the tiger, and stood on one side. This reverence was, however, 

 only shown by the local Bheels. The men of my own regi- 

 ment, who always accompanied me, had long since stifled 

 their veneration for wild beasts. 



As we were lifting out the dead tiger a horseman came up 

 with a note from Baigrie pressing me to come to them at once, 

 as they were in a country swarming with game, and required 

 my valuable assistance. He added, " Come on at once ; 



