TIGER SLAYER BY ORDER 



and beast ; in fact, the odds, if any, are possibly in favour 

 of the latter. 



Nevertheless, in spite of the risks attending it, or more 

 probably because of them, there is no kind of hunting done 

 on horseback — pig-sticking even not excepted — more 

 attractive to the sportsman than " riding a panther," as 

 this form of sport is sometimes called. 



But alas ! so far as this portion of the country is con- 

 cerned, there are now no panthers left to ride, nor game of 

 any kind to course or shoot. The Tapti Valley Railway 

 now runs through Nundobar, and has long since scared 

 away all game for miles around, as the advent of railways 

 always does. 



Many years later, while travelling by this line, I passed 

 the scene of my early wanderings, and was shocked to see 

 the change. The old haunted bungalow was still there, 

 but the well-stocked jungles and hunting-grounds I 

 remembered had, under the axe and plough, all passed 

 away for ever. Sic transit gloria mundi I might well 

 have cried, for truly all its glory had departed from the 

 landl 



70 



