112 TIGERS. 



few coughing roars, he turned on full steam again, and 

 came at me. On firing the right barrel the smoke hung, 

 so I kept the rifle to my shoulder ready to pull again 

 in case of pressure at the muzzle, but in a couple of 

 seconds was much relieved by seeing my antagonist 

 quivering on the ground within twelve yards. The 

 Express bullet, entering just over the left eye, had 

 brained him ; half an inch higher it would have been a 

 clean miss. This was the last tiger I shot, a fine 

 sporting brute. We christened him " the Romper." 

 The defaulting elephant was detailed to carry the body 

 back to camp, as another instalment of punishment, to 

 which he at first objected very strongly, but finally 

 succumbed to his fate. Tiger shooting is not nearly 

 so dangerous a sport as many people imagine ; a certain 

 element of risk is inseparable from it as from many 

 other sports, but it adds to the excitement. 



Shooting from a howdah is undoubtedly the safest way 

 of killing tigers, always provided that the elephant is 

 staunch, and will not bolt. If there are trees about, it 

 then becomes extremely dangerous, as the occupants as well 

 as the howdah, run a good chance of being smashed up. 

 We were unlucky as a rule with the Hyderabad elephants, 

 only three of which had the reputation of being reliable. 

 In my earlier days of tiger shooting I had undergone this 

 ordeal, and as a friend had the stock of his rifle smashed 

 while attempting to guard off a bough, we then and there 

 declared that we should never again try tiger shooting 

 from an elephant, unless it was certified as being staunch. 

 The mahouts cannot be believed, as they always swear by 

 their particular animals, as a sailor does of his ship. It 

 is a great mistake to remain on the ground, if there is a 

 rock or tree near you. A tiger may be shot through the 



