214 MISCELLANEOUS. 



guides to travellers ; they are, moreover, entitled to the 

 carcases of all village animals that may die, or be killed 

 by beasts of prey, and they are always on the watch for 

 windfalls of this kind. 



When a tiger kills a herd animal, the gowlees give 

 information to the Dhers, who immediately sally forth and 

 appropriate whatever remains of the carcase, and it is only 

 in parts of the jungle remote from villages, that the 

 sportsman has any chance of anticipating them. 



Both tigers and panthers kill their prey with the large 

 canine teeth, holding on to the neck and withers with their 

 claws, the marks of which will always be visible. 



If a tiger kills an animal rather late in the morning, 

 when the sun is hot, after dragging the carcase to a shady 

 spot, he will often lie up close by to watch it, and to pre- 

 vent the vultures from eating it ; indeed, he not unfrequently 

 kills these birds when thus engaged. These late kills are, 

 as a rule, made among herd oxen when grazing, and the 

 first' thing to be done is to stop the Dhers from interfering 

 with them. The position of the kill will be indicated by 

 the vultures circling over it, and if none of them appear 

 to settle down ; it is a strong inference that the tiger is 

 there. Two courses are open : either to arrange for a beat 

 at once, or to sit over the kill in a mechaun. The shikari 

 will decide which is the better plan to adopt. If the tiger 

 is " ringed, ' beating will be the best, otherwise the 

 making of the mechaun should be proceeded with forth- 

 with, so that it may be completed some hours before 

 sunset, as it is of the utmost importance that the place 

 should be perfectly quiet then. The selection of the tree 

 for the mechaun will depend upon local circumstances, and 

 the platform should be disguised by leafy branches, and be 

 of small dimensions, viz., only large enough for the sahib 



