TIGER SLAYER BY ORDER 



at this stage he found the horse standing unprotected, 

 exposed to a cold easterly wind, while the syce was sleeping 

 soundly, wrapped up in the blankets belonging to theanimal. 

 The result of this was that next morning — in spite of every 

 effort made to ward off the effects of the chill — the horse 

 showed unmistakable symptoms of kumri — ^paralysis of the 

 loins ; and although a vet was sent for, and did what he 

 could for the animal, it died the next evening. To begin 

 our camp with a disaster was clearly a bad omen ; and 

 such unfortunately it proved, for we saw nothing of the 

 elephants, while of other animals, all we bagged were two 

 panthers and, incidentally, an ordinary village cow ! The 

 last falling to the rifle of an absent-minded sportsman, 

 and a somewhat dangerous neighbour when out shooting ; 

 for, notwithstanding his exploit, for which he had to pay 

 a large sum as compensation, his next performance was to 

 pepper me with a charge of No. 6, which, but for my leather 

 gaiters, might have damaged me considerably. 



The incident reminded me of rather an amusing story 

 told of an Indian civilian, who, though not a sportsman 

 himself, happened to be appointed as District Officer to one 

 of the most sporting districts in Bengal, where he gradually 

 acquired a taste for sport and sedulously set to work to make 

 himself efficient in the use of guns and rifles, and in the art 

 of shooting generally. 



Unfortunately, while still in the rudimentary stage of 

 his education, he was induced one day to take part in a 

 big drive with elephants through some jungle near the 

 station, a kind of annual wind-up of the shooting season, 

 when anything put up may be fired at from a tiger to a 

 partridge. Next morning the police officer, whose duties 

 had prevented him from joining the shooting party, having 

 occasion to consult the District Officer on some business, 

 found him seated at the table in his office, with his head 

 resting between his hands, apparently in a most dejected 

 form of mind. He looked up as his visitor approached, 

 and to his question as to whether he had made a big bag 

 at the shoot, replied in a doleful tone of voice, that he was 

 much afraid he had made a very big one, for he had shot 

 one of the beating elephants as well as its mahout ! He 

 then went on to explain how the accident had occurred. 

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