14 SPORT IN ASIA AND AFRICA 



as good a shot as I have ever had in a beat, as 

 she was broadside on and quite motionless ; but 

 the distance was over 100 yards, and, being very 

 anxious not to be the cause of any mishap, I 

 decided to allow her to approach. Suddenly, 

 with a " Wouf," she started off at a gallop to the 

 left, passed instantly out of my fire zone, and I 

 was compelled to look on helplessly as she passed 

 the machan. She was fired at but missed by my 

 mentor, and got clean away. One of the cubs 

 followed, and I got in a shot at it, as it passed, 

 but missed. The other cub gave me an easy 

 shot, and I killed it. If I had shot the tigress 

 we should probably have bagged all three, but 

 I had correctly carried out instructions, and the 

 instructions were absolutely sound. The line 

 between success and failure, in big-game shooting, 

 is a very narrow one. 



I then shot a fine tiger in a beat in the Bustar 

 State, killing him with a single shot as he walked 

 fast through the bushes. I also killed a fine 

 panther by moonlight, when sitting up over a 

 kill, though the body was unfortunately not 

 found until the skin was spoiled. On the whole, 

 therefore, I did pretty well for a beginner in this 

 expedition. 



I had also a very exciting sit for a panther in 

 the course of this expedition, which I have always 

 considered one of the most interesting and in- 

 structive of my experiences, although the result 

 was a failure. The panther had killed a bullock, 

 which was tied on a road running along the edge 

 of a rather thin forest with open ground for a 

 considerable distance on the other side of the 



