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 pohce and prisoners — How the position was reversed — A par- 

 tridge shooting record — The Dangohia 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 — Sportsmen charged by a wounded 

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

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

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

 traordinary courage shouTi 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 down — 

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

 be carefully looked after — A curious result of neglect. 



There is probably no wild animal in India so destructive 

 and troublesome, especially to the villagers living near the 

 jungle it frequents, as the panther. In some districts these 

 animals are so numerous that in spite of the numbers shot 

 by sporting officials and the local shikaris, it is often found 

 necessary to reduce their numbers by catching them in 

 traps. 



When I was in Khandesh there were two of these 

 panther-traps, belonging to the Bhil Agency, huge iron 

 machines, weighing about fifty pounds a-piece, and made 

 on the principal of an ordinary gin rat-trap, but with long 

 spikes instead of teeth and powerful springs at both 

 ends. 



Many were the hyenas I caught with these traps, and 

 once a small panther ; but on one memorable occasion, 

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