CONTENTS 



CHAPTER XVIII 



PAG] 



A bait taken — Living animals as bait — A seemingly cruel practice — 

 Reasons for adopting it — A tigress put up — Missed — Charging 

 through the beaters — Cubs discovered — An all-night vigil — The tigress 

 returns — Finding her cubs — Process described — An opportunity 

 lost — The cubs disappear — Tigress or ghost — How the cubs iwere 

 removed — Morning at last — Tracking up — Death of the tigress — 

 The cubs found — Dharwar again — A shooting camp — News of game 

 — Daily disappointments — Two tigers reported at last — The beat — 

 Turned by a stop — A roar and a rush — A hurried shot — Instan- 

 taneous effects — The tiger's mate — Beaters charged again — Marked 

 down — Drawing lots for places — A tempting offer — Why I rejected 

 it — Premature congratulation — The tigress let off again — Questions 

 and answers — Extraordinary performance — Subsequent explana- 

 tions — What might have been accomplished — The shikaris' disgust 

 — A panther in my tent — My dogs wake me up — A desperate struggle 

 in the dark — Firing haphazard — A sudden crash — Ominous silence — 

 The servants aroused — They arrive with a lantern — What the light 

 revealed — One dog missing — Carried off by a panther — A fruitless 

 pursuit in the dark — Resumed at daybreak — Remains of Rover 

 found — An unsuccessful vigil — The spot revisited months later — A 

 panther shot — Was it the same ? 134 



CHAPTER XIX 



The destruction of panthers — Trapping often necessary — A trap described 

 — A trapping incident — Screams in the dead of night — Turning out 

 the guard — Rush to the rescue — What was found in the trap — The 

 biter bit — " A fine bait for the panther " — Drugged and disorderly — 

 Bhil police and prisoners — How the position was reversed — A par- 

 tridge shooting record — The Dangchia Bhils — An extraordinary^race 

 — Monkeys and rats as food — Belief in witchcraft — Veneration for 

 tigers — Habits and customs — Another quaint people — Professional 

 bird-snarers — Their snares described — A terror to legitimate sports- 

 men — Why panthers are so destructive — Less dangerous to human 

 life than tigers — An example — Sportsman charged by a wounded 

 tiger — Attempt to escape— A fatal slip — Severely mauled — Succumbs 

 to injuries — Another fatal accident — Wounded tiger in high grass 

 jungle — A sudden charge — Savage attack — Shaken like a rat — Ex- 

 traordinary courage shown by a Goanese butler — Grappling with a 

 tiger unarmed — A double tragedy — Twelve-foot tigers — A myth — 

 How to cure and preserve skin and heads — Hot-blooded animals 

 should be skinned promptly — Instructions for skinning — Pegging 

 dovra — How to retain proportions — Burnt alum or wood ashes — 

 Trophies to be looked after — A curious result of neglect . . . 142 



CHAPTER XX 



An apology and explanation — Big-game shooting and the camera — Some 

 advice on the subject — How a fine picture was saved — Morumgoa 

 and Goa — Poisonous water snakes and jelly fish — Phenomenal 

 rainfalls — Ancient rights and dignity — Convicted criminals at large 



xvi 



