THE VENGEANCE OF THE WILD 249 



and tigers have been known to reach up on 

 their hind legs and pull both sportsman and 

 shikari out of a machan that was thought to be 

 well beyond their reach. Very hardy sports- 

 men, who go after tigers on foot, sometimes 

 sneer at the machan as a cotton-wool fashion 

 of bagging these dangerous brutes without the 

 least element of risk, but a case that happened 

 some years ago will show that their contempt 

 is not always deserved. 



This tragedy was brought to my notice by 

 Colonel Murray, D.S.O. "The wounded 

 tiger was tracked into a dense piece of jungle, 

 and the shooters were placed in trees at one 

 edge, while the beaters were moving round the 

 other side. The tiger evidently saw where one 

 of the shooters was placed, and, before the 

 beat began, sprang up and dragged down first 

 the native gunbearer and then the officer him- 

 self, who was so badly clawed before assistance 

 could be rendered that he died the same night." 

 Mr. Clement Le Breton, K.C., also gave me 

 some particulars of a similar case of blood- 

 poisoning from the bite of a tiger that caused 

 the death of his brother, sometime Postmaster- 

 General of Rajputana. Here was no question 

 of inexperience, as he had encountered probably 

 fifty tigers in the course of his Indian career. 

 That is just what so often happens. Many 

 accidents, it is true, are caused by ignorance of 



