SOME TIGER AND PANTHER STORIES 31 



Channer and I were on the right bank of the 

 ravine. The beat was up the ravine. Shortly 

 after the beat started Wood, whose elephant 

 was moving along the bed of the ravine, saw the 

 tigress crouching on the sand, facing him at a 

 short distance. He fired at her with a shot-gun 

 loaded with ball, and the shot passed through 

 one of her ears, which was evidently cocked 

 forward. Subsequent examination showed that 

 the bullet drilled a small round hole, the edges 

 of which were not even reddened with blood. 

 It was a close shave, but the animal was quite 

 uninjured and blood was not drawn. The tigress 

 then appeared near Lumsden, who fired, and, as 

 he subsequently said, knocked her over into the 

 ravine. Very shortly after this she appeared 

 on my side of the ravine. She walked quietly 

 and quickly round a bush, and did not appear 

 to be wounded, and I fired, hitting her with my 

 Express on the near side, but rather far back. 

 She disappeared into the ravine and wandered 

 about there for a little time. Then Channer, 

 who was shooting with a small-bore, high- velocity 

 rifle, saw her and fired, and shortly after she 

 was seen to be dead. Two bullet-holes were 

 visible in the skin, one a small one in the back 

 near the neck, and the other a large one in the 

 near side. Lumsden was quite confident that 

 he had hit the tigress and knocked her over, 

 and suggested that the large hole in the side 

 was the hole of exit of his bullet. Both the other 

 sportsmen thought that the tiger was Lumsden's, 

 and Channer did not claim a hit. There was 

 much blood in the ravine, but it was impossible 



