

WE OBTAIN A SHOT. 137 



like and devilish in its every curve ; and, crouching very 

 flat, she showed above the ground only the head, the points of 

 her shoulders, and a waving line of her back as I knelt ; the 

 mark, though a broad one, was too low for certain aim and 

 for a certain death-wound, and must be improved ere I fired. 

 Rising slowly to an upright position, I obtained, of course, a 

 fuller sight : still it was too narrow, I felt sure, to allow of 

 my killing her with one shot as I had hoped to do. There 

 was no remedy, however. Accordingly, drawing a deep 

 breath, and steadying my nerves, I pressed the trigger of 

 the right barrel of the Westley-Richards, aiming below the 

 shoulder-points. The shot was answered by such a furious 

 roar of anger as must be heard to be realised ; and before the 

 smoke blew away and I could fire the left barrel, the stricken 

 beast reared up on her hind legs, beating the air fiercely with 

 her outstretched paws as if at some adversary, and, falling 

 out of the watercourse on her side, bit at her wound, growl- 

 ing and gnashing most savagely. The view having cleared 

 of smoke, I was trying to obtain an aim at a mortal spot, 

 when my followers called upon me to fire again, each offering 

 the spare gun held by him, and somewhat disturbing my 

 steadiness. For a moment or two I failed to fix upon a point 

 I liked, and the tigress had rolled over once or oftener before 

 the second bullet struck her in the body, and this shot, by its 

 smoke, revealed to her whence it came, for, gathering her- 

 self together, she bounded forward in our direction, receiving 

 the contents of the right barrel of the old Joe full in her 

 chest without stopping. " Now, sir, for God's sake, shoot 

 straight ; shoot her in the head," exclaimed my now excited 

 men ; but shooting in the head a beast advancing straight on 

 with a rolling and bounding gait at fifty yards is advice 

 easier given than acted on. I awaited, therefore, till she. 

 was half that distance from me, and then gave it her in the 

 head, but too low, for the shot broke her lower jaw, and then 

 entering the upper part of the chest, glanced outwards. This, 

 the fourth shot, staggered her and made her reel from weakness ; 

 blood flowed freely from her gaping jaws and the wounds in 



