118 SPORT IN ASIA AND AFRICA 



returned to the kill, and there was a repetition 

 of the incident of the morning, the tiger slinking 

 away as Tweedie and his companions arrived. 

 A machan was constructed, and Tweedie sat 

 over the carcase of the bullock all night ; but the 

 tiger, having been twice disturbed at the kill, 

 was scared, and did not return. 



I also took up my post in the ravine before 

 dark. There was a leafy tree with branches near 

 the carcase, in which we tied a good machan; 

 but the reeds, which were over six feet high, had 

 to be beaten down all round the carcase, and 

 this would have scared many tigers. I had 

 not, therefore, much hope. I kept Shama the 

 peon with me, and arranged with the shikari 

 that he was to come with some Gonds and fetch 

 me at ten o'clock, by which time the moon would 

 be down, as it was only three or four days old. 

 My experience with the shikari in Nepal ought 

 to have prevented me from sitting in a machan 

 with an Indian again ; but I had faith in Shama, 

 who had, like most Indians, splendid eyesight, 

 and I thought that his sight and hearing might 

 be useful. 



At sundown the tiger roared in the jungle, and 

 it was clear from the sound that he had lain up 

 for the day at a considerable distance from the 

 kill. A beat, therefore, would certainly have 

 been blank, and might have spoilt everything. 



Before it was dark I thought I saw the tiger 

 moving in the forest on the hill above the reed- 

 bed. Darkness came on, and there was complete 

 silence, and we waited in eager expectation. 

 Shama, in his excitement, began to breathe heavily, 



