ALADDIN'S CAVE. 29 



scintillation would be more brilliant. Cutting up 

 several candles into pieces, we soon had a brilliant 

 light about us, and this enabled me to see that the 

 underground chamber was very irregular in shape, 

 about thirty feet wide from east to west, and some- 

 what longer towards the north. It was from the 

 latter direction that the hissing and growling 

 seemed to come, and Permal declared he could see a 

 large tiger crouching down behind a piece of rock in 

 the far corner. But if it was a tiger, why did not it 

 attack us, as it could not be more than twenty paces 

 away from us ? I was inclined to believe it was a 

 hyena, and therefore plucked up heart to have a 

 shot at it, as I would not have ventured to attack 

 a tiger at such close quarters, and on foot. Cocking 

 both barrels, I directed Permal to throw stones at 

 the creature to induce it to break cover ; but no, 

 the brute would not move, but continued spitting 

 and growling. I was now convinced it was a hyena, 

 and advanced more boldly until I could just see a 

 dark object behind a rock. I could see the gleaming 

 eyes distinctly, so, taking careful aim, I fired, and 

 then retreated hastily to the mound. We waited 

 some time, but could hear no sound, and the smoke 

 made it more difficult to see. We threw several 

 large stones in the direction, but there was no 

 movement. The hissing, too, had ceased. Re-load- 

 ing the empty barrel, we again advanced cautiously, 

 and then I made out the body, in the same position 

 apparently. Again aiming carefully, I tried a 

 second shot. There was no missing so large an 

 object within a few paces, so I felt quite sure the 



