SOME TIGER AND PANTHER STORIES 29 



chance. A shot near the head stopped him, and 

 a second bullet finished him off. My shot was 

 thought to have been a hit, but examination 

 showed that it was Wood's tiger. This is the 

 only occasion I can remember in which every 

 member of a party had a fair chance in turn 

 at a tiger. The beat also was one of the prettiest 

 and most exciting in which I have ever taken 

 part. 



After this the shikaris reported that there were 

 no other tigers in the vicinity of the camp, and 

 went to some place at a considerable distance to 

 look for tracks. We were reconciling ourselves 

 to some hot days of waiting, but very soon after 

 the shikaris had gone some herdsmen came in and 

 said that a tiger had killed one of their buffaloes. 

 We went to the place and found a recently killed 

 buffalo; but the only patch of forest which was 

 near the place had been fired, and, although it 

 had apparently been too damp to burn well, 

 some fallen trees were actually on fire. We 

 tried a beat, and the tiger was there right enough. 

 In shooting with elephants, there is very little 

 danger to the beaters, and, as everyone is anxious 

 to put the first bullet into the tiger, there is often 

 some rather wild shooting. As the line advanced 

 both Wood and I had shots. I fired without 

 success at a movement in the high grass ; and 

 then the tiger, which was fairly cornered, broke 

 with a roar into the open, a little to my left front. 

 It was a grand spectacle, as the tiger showed up 

 magnificently on the short green grass. With 

 Chainchal, I should probably have got that tiger ; 

 but my elephant was not a good one, and I tried 



