ADVENTURES IN CAMP AND JUNGLE. 277 



on foot, a wounded tiger. Irritated with wounds and the heat 

 of the sun, the hunted animal will stop in the first convenient 

 spot, and, wheeling round with his face towards his pursuers, 

 he will await their approach, crouching among the grass or 

 rocks, and utterly motionless, with the exception of the last 

 three inches of his tail, which he twitches nervously, like a 

 domestic cat when watching a mouse. 



But the jungle now became thick and thorny, filled with 

 fragments of rock, and we reluctantly gave up the pursuit. 

 Had we succeeded in finding the tiger, I believe he would not 

 have gone under without serious injury to one or more of us. 



On the following day we went out in another direction 

 after a tiger which had killed and eaten the greater part of a 

 buffalo which had been tied up for him the previous evening. 

 He was in an open ravine formed by a sandy river-bed, 

 having on the right bank a small hill faced with huge masses 

 of detached rock. Along the base of this hill were some 

 trees of considerable growth, interspersed with creepers and 

 brushwood. In the bed of the river lay a patch of willow 

 and cypress about thirty yards in length. Beyond was some 

 rough and hilly ground covered with tree-jungle. 



We had taken our places in trees above the afore-men 

 tioned hill, and had sent men round to drive towards us, 

 when we heard loud shouts, followed by roars from the tiger. 

 Soon a man came running over the hill, and called on us to 

 join him, as the tiger had broken back. We quickly came 

 down, and I had just reached the summit of the hill when I 

 heard a further uproar, and a cry that the tiger was coming 

 forward on us. I sprang on a fragment of rock overlooking 

 the river, and saw the tiger coming up the sandy bed at a 

 brisk trot, and roaring loudly. From my position I could 

 only get an occasional view as he crossed the open spaces be- 



