viii PREFACE. 



saw two tigers and two bears ; and two tigers and 

 one bear were aroused in the second beat. Indeed, 

 it was on the former occasion that the laughable 

 scene with the bears the first described in the 

 following pages took place. I was assured by 

 some of the men that if I could wait and visit a 

 river some miles distant, they would engage to show 

 me four or five tigers in a beat. Unfortunately this 

 I was unable to do. 



I mention this in proof of the abundance of wild 

 animals to be found in the wilder districts. 



In the following narrative I have endeavoured to 

 give an idea of the systems both of " pugging " and 

 " marking." These, one or both, are necessarily the 

 means by which an animal is traced to his lair, 

 though the actual mode of operating may somewhat 

 vary in different districts. The Mahrattas of the 

 hill country of the Deccan are especially clever at 

 marking in the way I have described, but are in- 

 ferior as " trackers " to the shikarees of some other 

 provinces. I have therefore combined the character- 

 istic features of different districts. 



