230 The Hunting Grounds 



intelligence that a tiger had struck down a bullock 

 belonging to some Mulchers about five miles distant, 

 and after having sucked the blood had left the carcass, 

 which Naga and Googooloo had gone to watch, to 

 prevent its being carried away by the chucklars 

 (shoemakers), or Pariahs (low caste people). 



B had gone out to reconnoitre some ibex 



ground on the Koondah range, and as I did not 

 expect him to return until late in the evening I 

 made preparations to start alone. Tiffin eaten, I set 

 out for the spot accompanied by Chineah, the Goo- 

 roo, and a horse-keeper who carried my rifles, and 

 after an hour's ride arrived at a little patch of cultiva- 

 tion surrounded on three sides by dense wood, where 

 we found a fine white bullock lying dead in a pool 

 of blood, with bis throat torn and shoulder dislocated. 

 I saw at a glance that the marauder was a large 

 tiger, for besides the holes made in the throat by 

 his fangs, and the marks of his claws in the back of 

 the neck, which had torn up the flesh in ridges, 

 there were several immense " pugs " deeply im- 

 printed in the soft ground, near which the struggle 

 had taken place. 



Googooloo and Naga had built an ambuscade in a 

 tree, about ten feet from the ground, which com- 

 manded an excellent view of all approaches from the 

 cover ; but as I did not imagine that the tiger would 

 return to his prey in the earlier part of the evening, 



