320 SEARCH FOR THE WOUNDED TIGRESS. 



trees inside the cover to keep watch. These men said the tigress had not 

 gone fax back, and was near the place where she entered. 



"We retired to talk the matter over, and to give her time. After the 

 lapse of half an hour one of the men shouted from a tree inside that the 

 tigress was about fifteen yards from him, but he could not see her for the 

 denseness of the thicket ; that she had breathed hard for some time, sobbing 

 occasionally, and at last, after three gasps, had become perfectly still, and 

 he thought she was dead, as she had made no sound for a quarter of an 

 hour. Upon this we approached in a body, and I sent Tinker in, but he 

 returned without showing any excitement, as we thought he would have 

 done had the tigress moved. This was very extraordinary, as she was really 

 alive at the time. 



One maniac — a new hand from HurdenhuUy, who wanted to distinguish 

 himself — now said he would go in if permitted. My men ironically begged 

 him to do so, offering him the choice of their cudgels, and asking him to 

 leave his address and any messages he had for his relatives. Also to say 

 who would pay them for burying decently what was left of hiuL One 

 offered to perform the offices of cremation for him, as firewood would cost 

 nothing, if he wovdd give him a legacy of his blanket, and hand it over 

 now. After much bantering he was shoved away from the council circle. 



We knew the cover well inside. It was a capital place to look up a 

 tiger. There was no thick undergi'owth, and we could see for several yards 

 on all sides, whilst the stems of young saplings and thick leafless creepers 

 would make it impossible for any large animal to make a sudden or straight 

 rush. "We had often been through it in search of spotted-deer and pig. 



The five best trackers and I decided to go in. We knew where the 

 tigress was lying, from our informant in the tree, and of course made all 

 our arrangements on the expectation of finding her aUve, though it appeared 

 probable she was dead. I carried my 8 -bore myself, and Jaffer my express. 

 If she were still alive and charged, I felt sure of being able to almost lit- 

 erally blow her from the muzzle, as I need not fire in such cover till she 

 was within a yard, if she ventured so near. If a man can keep cool, a less 

 difficult matter when he knows what to expect than if surprised, it is of 

 course almost impossible to miss a large animal at such close quarters. 



We approached the tigress's position with every care, but when we got 

 to about ten yards from where we knew she lay we found that an inequality 

 in the ground hid her from us. We could not go nearer than we then 

 were without risk of being attacked suddenly ; so I told one of the men to 

 throw a stone into the depression. 



As soon as it fell we heard the crackling of a stick, and the tigress rose 



1 



