SETTLED AT LAST. 119 



passed without seeing her, the indomitable creature sprang upon 

 my elephant's rump, and seizing the corner of the pad under 

 the " howdah " with her teeth, began to claw at B.'s legs, 

 which showed through the cane-work of the " khawas." Before 

 J. could range up alongside, I contrived to dislodge her by 

 firing into her face with my rifle held pistol fashion, while I 

 clung on with the left hand. Although I leaned well over, and 

 almost touched the tigress with the rifle muzzle, she dropped 

 without receiving more than a flesh wound under the skin of 

 her cheek and neck, and at once fixed herself upon the big 

 commissariat elephant, and took a full taste of his hind 

 quarters, receiving during the operation, another bullet from 

 my rifle, which caused her to drop and vanish. 



We saw no more of her till we had turned from the end 

 of the grass, and had reached the spot where the last scrim- 

 mage took place, and then it was my good luck to view her 

 as she crawled forward on her belly, preparatory to another 

 spring upon the old " mukna's " head, but a quickly fired 

 bullet struck her between the eyes, rolled her stone dead on 

 her side, and ended as pretty a little bit of sport as can be 

 had in that particular line. She was a sturdy tigress, in the 

 early prime of life, and measured an inch under nine feet in 

 length. She held a bit of my pad in her mouth up to the 

 last, and gave it a savage bite with her last gasp. Requiescat 

 in pace; she was a gal J ant beast, though somewhat short in 

 temper ; it is a pity there are not more like her in this weary 

 world, to cast upon it now and then a gleam of joy and 

 brightness. 



Tigers are in the habit of wandering over considerable 

 distances, in search of prey or fresh quarters. The very dis- 

 tinguished family of man-eaters at Prannugger, in Dinage- 

 poor, had a range of twelve or fifteen miles from the above 

 named village, which they depopulated, to some distance 

 north of Thakoorgaon, the breadth of their hunting country 

 being somewhat less. It was the custom of this amiable 

 family, whether singly or in twos and threes, to change 

 quarters every time they killed, and to remain away three, 



