SOME TIGER AND PANTHER STORIES 25 



owing possibly to the presence of the shikari 

 and myself, and we could not come up to him 

 again or get any other chance of a shot. 



My return journey from this expedition was 

 the most uncomfortable that I have ever made. 

 I had parted with the elephant and travelled 

 in a bullock-cart. I had only an inexperienced 

 cook, a table attendant, and Mihtab Khan. 

 The table attendant went off his head, owing to 

 fear of tigers and the unaccustomed surroundings, 

 and became irresponsible and very dirty in his 

 habits. I was disposed to leave him in a hospital 

 in one of the native States, but Mihtab Khan 

 said he had promised his uncle to look after him, 

 and persuaded me to take him with us. We 

 brought him back, therefore, to Agra, and I 

 understand that he there completely recovered 

 his health. Many years have elapsed, but I 

 still remember the journey with a shudder. 



In April 1901, I had another tiger-hunt in the 

 Terai, on the border of the Bahraich district, 

 with Mr. Faunthorpe, I.C.S., who was then the 

 Collector, and Mr. A. Wood. We got no tigers 

 in Nepal, and the expedition was in danger of 

 being a complete failure, when we received news 

 of a tigress which had killed in one day three 

 head of cattle in a village in the Bahraich district, 

 near the border. We moved camp to this place, 

 and found that the cover, in which the tigress 

 was lying, consisted of a triangular patch of 

 high reeds on the border of a small lagoon. The 

 line of elephants was formed at the base of the 

 triangle, and the beat was a pretty and exciting 

 one. Wood was with the line ; I had the next 



