ALONE IX THE WOOD. 265 



to stick to the trail we were fain to relinquish further pursuit, 

 and return to the clearance by a sweep made round to our 

 right, and this we did for fully a mile, when we were startled 

 by shouts from behind. 



In taking up the last trail, I was closely attended by two 

 men carrying the gun and the second rifle, the other three 

 following some distance in the rear and out of sight, but 

 guided by our footprints upon the yielding soil. Halting on 

 hearing the cries, the second party was allowed to rejoin us, 

 and then it appeared that one of them was missing, a long- 

 bearded up-country tent-pitcher, much addicted to chattering, 

 and somewhat to boasting to boot. Our progress in the 

 " hurtal " jungle had been crossed and re-crossed by nume- 

 rous tracks of tigers, which appeared to have made it a 

 favourite promenade. At first then our fear was that the 

 man lagging behind had been " set " by a tiger and seized, 

 but repetitions of his outcries raised hopes of his safety as 

 we hastened back to his relief, and shortly our fears were 

 removed on finding him unhurt and shouting lustily for help. 

 It now transpired that the man's nerves had received a shock 

 in the jungle we had attempted to penetrate in the early part 

 of the morning when the stag was shot, and afterwards, on 

 observing tigers' tracks even more abundant in this than in 

 the last covert, his fears had so completely mastered his 

 reason, that hanging back for some purpose he had lost sight 

 of his two companions, and instead of hastening to overtake 

 them, he had sat down in utter terror and despair, and by 

 his shouts had invited the tigers to come and eat him. This 

 man's fears acting upon the nerves of the others, who up to 

 this time had manfully followed me without a word, it be- 

 came advisable to get out of a situation in which I felt I 

 should not be on fair terms with a tiger bent on a sudden 

 attack, nor even with a comrade on whose nerve and rifle full 

 reliance could be placed would I care to invite such an en- 

 counter in so ticklish a place, where one could not see five 

 paces ahead or sides. We were not sorry then to see sun- 

 shine again, on stepping out into the open ground at its 



