MISCELLANEOUS. 219 



tions as tiger slayers, and they are reticent and obstinate to 

 a degree. The points on which information is necessary 

 may be briefly enumerated as follows : Number of tigers, 

 usual haunts, drinking places ; when and where last gara 

 occurred ; number of beaters obtainable ; whether other 

 sahibs have ever shot there, and with what results ; 

 whether any beaters were ever killed by a tiger; if any big 

 game in addition to tigers frequent the jungle. 



The Intelligence Department wallah must have at 

 least one day's start of the party. This can always be 

 arranged, for his duties as an executive shikari should be 

 very light. By the time you arrive at the new camp he 

 will have obtained some information on the above points ; 

 but, as the local man parts with his secrets slowly, you 

 must be patient, as a few days will probably reveal every- 

 thing that is required. To avoid bringing too much pres- 

 sure on the food supplies of villages in remote districts, a 

 large quantity of rice, fowls, &c., should be taken with the 

 camp baggage. It is also desirable to purchase some young 

 buffaloes, to march with the caravan, as in many places the 

 people object to furnish animals for baits. 



Natives say that the peepul tree affords the healthiest 

 and coolest shade for a camp, but mango trees and banians 

 are quite as good. The tamarind tree should be avoided, 

 as it harbours ticks, as large as beans, and they bite malig- 

 nantly. From the rustling of its leaves in the faintest 

 breeze, the peepul tree soothes one with the idea that it 

 is cool, perhaps the native opinion of its shade is 

 attributable to this circumstance. 



Since writing the chapter on tigers, an account in the 

 Meld, of the 7th April, 1894, has appeared, headed " Sport 

 in the Nirmul Jungle," in which details are given of a 

 tiger taking a man off a branch 20 feet 7 inches abovr tlx 



