OF THE OLD WORLD. 221 



and after having sucked the blood had left the car- 

 cass, which Naga and Googooloo had gone to watch, 

 to prevent its being carried away by the Cbucklurs 

 (shoemakers) or Pariahs, (low caste people.) 



B had gone out to reconnoitre some ibex 



ground on the Koondah range, and as I did not ex- 

 pect him to return until late in the evening I made 

 preparations to start alone. Tiffin eaten, I set out 

 for the spot accompanied by Chineah, the Gooroo, 

 and a horse-keeper who carried my rifles, and after 

 an hour's ride arrived at a little patch of cultivation 

 surrounded on three sides by dense wood, where we 

 found a fine white bullock lying dead in a pool of 

 blood, with his throat torn and shoulder dislocated. 

 I saw at a glance that the marauder was a large 

 tiger, for besides the holes made in the throat by his 

 fangs, and the marks of his claws in the back of the 

 neck, which had torn up the flesh in ridges, there 

 were several immense "pugs" deeply imprinted in 

 the soft ground, near which the struggle had taken 

 place. 



Googooloo and Naga had built an ambuscade in 

 a tree, about ten feet from the ground, which com- 

 manded an excellent view of all approaches from the 

 cover ; but as I did not imagine that the tiger would 

 return to his prey in the earlier part of the evening, 

 and I should not have the advantage of the light of 

 the moon until late, I determined to await his ap- 

 proach at close quarters, and made the gang dig a 

 hole about four feet deep under a low overhanging 



