f 



A WEEK OF DISASTER 105 



distance, making for the men behind. But for 

 this unfortunate misadventure I think I should 

 certainly have killed her, as I was cool and col- 

 lected, and the tigress was broadside on and 

 was clearly visible as she passed through the 

 bushes. When I succeeded in disengaging myself 

 I picked up my hat and remember that I looked 

 ruefully at its condition, and then made my 

 way into the open ground in front. The forest 

 guard and Shama soon joined me, and they thought 

 that all had escaped ; but presently Mihtab Khan 

 emerged from the jungle, saying that he was 

 wounded. He had some blood, but not much, 

 on his breeches, and his eyes were staring, but 

 he did not appear to be badly injured. There 

 was then another roar and a rush in the jungle 

 immediately in front of us, and while my attention 

 was directed to my front Mihtab Khan crawled 

 away to the rear. According to the account 

 which he subsequently gave of the occurrence, 

 when the tigress charged there was a stampede, 

 and he was jostled and fell, and she bit him in 

 the thigh. The others, being active aborigines, 

 got up low trees, but one of them, who was on 

 a small sapling, was seized by the foot and pulled 

 down. The tigress was, however, badly crippled, 

 and he managed to crawl away from her. I saw 

 the place the next day. The tigress had reared 

 up and driven the claws of her uninjured forearm 

 into the trunk high up on the tree, and in this 

 way had been able to pull the man down. I 

 heard a shriek, but it was not until I returned to 

 camp in the evening that I heard that one of the 

 Gonds also had been mauled. 



