COLONEL NIGHTINGALE S LETTER. 2 I I 



last week's shikar; having suffered much from fever, this was 

 the first time I was able to go out in February. On the 13th 

 I chulled out forty miles to Morchee, breakfasted, picketed 

 buffaloes and started on my elephant on a chance hunt to a 

 place where Hamilton, the Commissioner, had seen four 

 tigers the week before. I was moving along the bed of a 

 river looking out for anything that might turn up, when Crib 

 gave a bark ; I pulled up and saw a commotion in a thick 

 patch of ' jow ' (Cyprus) jungle. I suspected it must be some 

 big animal, so told the coolies to go back and spring their 

 rattles ; suddenly out rushed two tigers and made off in 

 different directions. I pursued one, a young one, and 

 managed to get in front of him, when he charged me at 

 once ; at a dozen paces I managed to put two balls into his 

 chest and upset him, after which I finished him with one 

 under the ear. I then cut away after the second one, a 

 tigress, and could not for a long time find out where she 

 had gone. At last on beating a small ravine off the river, 

 up she got and cantered off; she was hobbling along more 

 than a hundred yards off when I made a very pretty shot 

 with my right barrel and hit her right through the heart ; 

 she gave two tremendous bounds into the air, falling on her 

 head each time, and then lay dead. The coolies were flab- 

 bergasted at the velocity with which these two brutes were 

 arranged. I then took a beat to explore the ground and put 

 up some pig ; they were in a thick thorn jungle, and the 

 ground is generally considered unrideable, but I got on my 

 horse and had a shy, and though I was torn to pieces by the 

 thorns I slew the boar after a couple of charges. 



"The next day no buffaloes were killed so I went for a 

 chance beat, only killing a Nilgai. The following day they 



