MY LAST TIGER. 2G7 



and pointing about twenty yards ahead I saw him lying 

 on his side gathered to his fathers. The ball had gone 

 clean through him behind his shoulders ; he was a fine 

 young male but thin and lanky, I could only make him 

 seven feet eight inches as he lay. The next morning I sent 

 Atley to see if any other tiger had been to the Bison, he 

 reported that a tiger had been and had dragged the carcass 

 some yards and had eaten a part of it. I started in the after- 

 noon to watch for him ; it was tedious work, but a tiger is 

 worth it. Whilst watching, two of those same animals I had 

 seen previously came, and were scratching up and eating the 

 offal ; it was very interesting to watch their ways. At last 

 one of them threw up his nose, and raising himself on his hind 

 legs sniffed about evidently smelling danger, not in my 

 direction, but from where I expected the tiger ; it then went 

 up to its companion who was busy at work, and touching it 

 ' with its nose went through exactly the same manoeuvre. The 

 other looked round, sat up and sniffed about for an instant 

 and off they trotted. I fully expected the tiger, but he did 

 not come, and after waiting for three hours and darkness 

 coming on, I went home. It rained the whole of the next 

 day, and when on the following I went to look for the 

 bison, I found that the tiger had been at him, had dragged 

 the remains to the nullah, and nothing but the bones left ; 

 rather a bit of bad luck. 



On the 1 2th September, 1868, I was out in the forest 

 that extends along the foot of the Nielgherry mountains 

 looking for any game that might turn up, when I heard a 

 spotted deer give one of their sharp shrill barks ; having seen 

 a short time before the quite fresh track of a tiger in the 

 sand of a dry nullah I stole along it, and soon came again on 



