266 IN THE INDIAN JUNGLE. 



the kitchen pal (small tent) to dish the dinner 

 on a camp-table outside, on which there was 

 a kerosene lantern. The man and the table were 

 not ten yards from me, and I was seated in my 

 hill tent directly facing him, when I saw something 

 dark spring over the table, seize the cook by the 

 neck, and spring back. Not a sound from the 

 cook not a rustle of the leaves nothing dis- 

 turbed. The cook's mate within the pal heard 

 nothing, and here was the cook carried away from 

 within a few feet of a bright light. I immediately 

 raised the alarm, and fired off a couple of shots 

 in the direction the tiger had taken, and the police 

 began a regular fusillade. Next morning a care- 

 ful search was made, but to no purpose. The 

 men declined to work further, and said they would 

 leave me and go back in a body. They did not 

 care for their back wages ; their lives were of more 

 consequence. I was without a cook, so there was 

 nothing for it but the back track. The elephants 

 were loaded and back we went. We had almost 

 reached our last camp when the elephants stopped, 

 and sounded the alarm by striking the ground 

 with their trunks, making a kind of kettle-drum 

 sound. Kissen Sing said there was a tiger about. 

 We proceeded cautiously, the men keeping near 

 to the elephants. On getting into our former 

 camp, and near to the watch-fire, there we saw 

 the head and other portions of my cook Ramaswamy. 

 The tigress and two cubs were evidently disturbed 

 at their meal, as we saw their pug marks in close 

 proximity to the remains of the cook, which were 



