378 THE EASTEEN HUNTERS. 



body of beaters should go to the top of the hill dur- 

 ing the night, while the animals were away seeking 

 their prey, and howl and shout till morning. This 

 I hoped would prevent them from returning, and 

 induce them, for one day at least, to remain con- 

 tented with a resting-place in the bed of the river. 

 I also directed that they should tie strips of white 

 cloth about the bushes near the caves, so that even 

 should the beasts not be scared by the noise on the 

 hill above, they might, as they probably would, 

 refuse to face such suspicious and unusual looking 

 articles. 



" My plan succeeded to admiration. On the follow- 

 ing morning, my shikaree came in to say that the 

 tigers three in number had been kept out of their 

 usual retreat, and were then moving about suspici- 

 ously, and evidently in an undecided frame of mind, 

 in the river. I mounted my pony and rode off to 

 the scene of my intended operations, directing the 

 elephant to follow as quickly as possible. 



" Somehow or other my shikaree had either 

 neglected to mark properly the spot where he had 

 left a large body of beaters between the tigers and 

 their hill, or else they had moved. However that 

 was, he led me by a cart-road across the river, 

 unaware at the time that two tigers were lying close 

 by, and that the third had just passed. Indeed, a 



