108 SPORT IN ASIA AND AFRICA 



advanced. It was an ever-memorable scene. As 

 they advanced upon her the tigress commenced 

 roaring, but she could not break the advancing 

 phalanx, and the buffaloes pushed her before them 

 out of the thick cover into comparatively open 

 ground. The man who was perched in the tree 

 said afterwards that one old cow actually prodded 

 the tigress with her horn; and there was a hole 

 in the skin which might have been made in that 

 way. The herdsman and I were within a few 

 yards of the buffaloes, but the tigress was hidden 

 from us by their bodies, and we could not exactly 

 see what was happening in front. 



Suddenly the roaring ceased and the buffaloes 

 turned and bolted madly past us. The herdsman 

 turned to me, oblivious for the moment in his 

 excitement of his personal danger, saying, ** My 

 buffaloes are beaten ! [Kutch himmat nahin rahi]. 

 They have no spirit left." I looked in vain for 

 the tigress. " Where is the tigress ? " I said. 

 Then the man looked about and in a second or 

 two pointed her out, at about 25 yards' distance 

 crouched alongside a fallen tree, with her back 

 towards us. At any greater distance it is doubtful 

 if I could have seen her, as she was flattened to 

 the ground. She was at my mercy, and I raked 

 her with two bullets and finished her off. 



The disappearance of the tigress apparently 

 caused the panic among the buffaloes; but they 

 had done their work, and made my task an easy 

 one. 



The plucky herdsman and forest guard were 

 well rewarded, and thej^ certainly deserved it. 

 Without their assistance I should very hkely 



