306 IN THE INDIAN JUNGLE. 



all went off till next day. It was found in the 

 morning that a tiger had been round and round 

 the trap, but had not entered the fence. The man 

 was not disheartened. He said he was now certain 

 of his foe, as the tiger was sure to come back if he 

 did not kill elsewhere. A second night passed and 

 the villagers again hastened to the trap, and there 

 crouching in a corner of the pit was a tiger of the 

 largest size, growling and snarling furiously at the 

 sight of his human foes. In rushing to seize the 

 buffalo he had to cross the pegged cloth, which gave 

 way to his weight and hurled him into the pit. 

 Immediately the joyful news went round, the 

 villagers assembled in their thousands and made 

 the forest ring with their shouts of exultation, 

 and abuse of the tiger and his relatives for 

 several generations. The magistrate was com- 

 municated with, and he thought the catch so 

 good that the tiger ought to be sent to the 

 Calcutta Zoo. There was no doubt it was the 

 terrible man-eater, as the marks of the burn 

 inflicted on it by the Kol were plainly visible. 



The Zoo authorities sent up a portable cage on 

 wheels. An inclined plane was cut leading from" the 

 exterior of the ring fence to the bottom of the pit 

 and the cage, with door toward the pit, was gradu- 

 ally lowered. On nearing the pit the door was shut 

 and the men from inside the cage cautiously worked 

 through the bars until the intervening earth was 

 removed. On the barrier of earth being removed, 

 the tiger rushed furiously at the iron bars, but the 

 stout iron resisted all his efforts. When all was 



