56 A CARRION-EATING TIGER. 



any rate, occasionally added by night shooting to one's 

 knowledge of the habits of fe^rrn naturce. For instance, I 

 was under the impression that a tiger in its wild state 

 always killed its food and never touched dead meat, until 

 one of our nocturnal experiences proved that it will greedily 

 devour even carrion. 



There had been a dreadful murrain among the cattle 

 throughout the district, and Jeetoo amongst others had lost 

 many of his beasts. As they died he merely dragged their 

 carcasses from his gote (cowshed) to a neighbouring jungly 

 ravine, and there left them to rot, and, from fear of infection, 

 without even stripping them of their hides. One day he 

 came and reported that a tiger had been at them for several 

 nights. At first I thought he might have been mistaken, 

 and that the nocturnal visitor must be a bear. But he so 

 positively insisted that it was a tiger, that I at once 

 resolved to go and judge for myself. 



On reaching the viUage, we forthwith proceeded to in- 

 si)ect the place where the dead cattle had been devoured, 

 and there found the fresh unniistakable footprints of a lavgu 

 tiger. Jeetoo had already removed all the carcasses, except 

 one, to some distance, in order that there might, for obvious 

 reasons, be more certainty of getting a shot. As it was 

 growing late in the evening there was no time to be lost. 

 We hauled the carcass to a likely spot for our purpose, and 

 tied it tightly to a stake driven into the ground, so that it 

 could not be dragged away without giving time for a shot. 

 Some green branches were cut and stuck upright to form a 

 screen about fifteen or twenty paces from the carcass, and 

 on slightly higher ground than where it lay. All being 

 ready, Jeetoo and I took up our position in our amljusli 



wish to hit, at the same time lowering the eye until the tape is hidden from 

 view by the back sight, on the required alignement, when at once press tlie 

 trigger. By this means you can tell if the back and the fore sights are 

 correctly aligned, whereas you are uncertain of this if, as is customary, the 

 fore sight only is rendered visible by having a bit of white cotton or any 

 other dodge fastened on to it. 



