70 IN THE INDIAN JUNGLE. 



to frequent the high road between the district 

 stations of Chittaldroog and Shimoga, and so 

 daring had he become that all traffic between 

 these two towns was at a stand-still for the 

 time. He had been seen several times by vil- 

 lagers and goat-herds, and the loss of one of his 

 eyes was noted. Probably it was this very loss of 

 an eye that led him to take to man-eating, as when 

 wounded he would have been unable to roam far 

 in search of his natural prey, and driven by hunger 

 to attack man, he found him so easy a victim that 

 thenceforth he hunted man instead of beast. He 

 had been known to carry off a cartman and leave 

 the bullocks from an ox-waggon conveying goods 

 along the road. Latterly he had taken to killing 

 the ddk-men, or native runners who carry the 

 post from station to station in outlying parts 

 of the country. These dak - runners carry the 

 letter-bags slung on a stick thrown over the 

 shoulder. At the further end of the stick is 

 a bunch of small bells which make a kind of 

 rhythmic jangle as the men trot along. The sound 

 of these bells can be heard a considerable way off, 

 and evidently this tiger had learned to associate 

 their tinkle-tinkle with approaching prey. He 

 would lie in wait in some unfrequented corner 

 and then pounce on the unfortunate ddk-ruuner 

 as he passed with the mails. Four poor wretches 

 had fallen in succession to the maw of the fearful 

 creature, and none would now venture to carry the 

 mails. 



I had with me as my assistant a young Cornish- 



