A TIGER HUNT. 309 



his appetite and his prowess ; every year hundreds of his race are 

 shot down by the relentless sportsman, or ensnared and killed by the 

 peasants, whose cattle and whose lives he threatens. 



By the Malays and the half-savage Indians who dwell among the 

 Indo-Chinese jungles, he is hunted in the same way that the African 

 negroes hunt the lion and the leopard. When the presence of one of 

 these scourges becomes known in a district, they place some dainty 

 bait on the bank of the river where he drinks and plants himself 

 every night, and they form an ambush among the thickets, taking 

 care to mark the direction of the wind. It is not long before the 

 tiger directs his steps towards the enticing booty, and the hunters' 

 arrows or musket-balls stretch him dead, in most cases, before he can 

 seize it. 



A vast amount of pompous preparation attaches to the tiger-hunt 

 of India. It is a sumptuous expedition, commanded by some distin- 

 guished chief an European officer, a native prince, or a stranger of 

 rank in which each person has his allotted station and particular 

 duties. Usually the hunters are mounted on elephants, so that the 

 tiger cannot reach them on the back of the colossus, without being 

 arrested by the trunk of the latter or his formidable tusks. Each 

 sportsman provides himself with three or four rifles, besides revolvers 

 and cutlasses. Formerly the Hindu rajahs made use in this chase of 

 arrows and lances, but now they greatly prefer the European weapons. 

 The expedition is never an impromptu affair. It is always organized 

 against an enemy whose presence has been discovered in the district, 

 and whose den is pretty well known. The march commences at sun- 

 rise, that the beast may be surprised while enjoying his siesta, after 

 the fatigues and the plunder of the night. Suddenly awaking, says 

 Mr. Stocqueler,* he bounds out of the jungle, and is saluted by a 

 discharge which often proves sufficient ; but sometimes the animal is 

 safe and sound, or only wounded ; then he furiously springs upon 

 the first elephant within his reach. If the hunter has not time to 

 plant a ball in his chest or head, the position of the mahout, or 

 * Stocqueler, " Handbook to India." 



