Tiger'Shooting 267 



few and far between ; most of us can lay a finger 

 on two or three such moments in our lives. 



Poor Captain F., both barrels fired, and helpless, 

 had in desperation sprung to his feet, his hand on 

 the side of the machdn. Either the tiger's teeth or 

 his claws tore his finger all down the back of it 

 to the bone, but the whole action took place with 

 such lightning speed that it was hard to say which. 



In my mind's eye, as the great body flew up the 

 tree, I pictured a ghastly struggle, a heavy fall, and 

 a sickening death ; at the same instant a moment's 

 intuition suggested a difficult but not impossible shot 

 at the tiger's back as he clasped the tree. With my 

 last barrel I fired. There was no time for a long and 

 steady aim ; but as the smoke cleared away what 

 relief! the tiger had dropped to the ground. With 

 nine lives cat-like he was not dead ; he walked 

 off and disappeared. 



We dared not look for him then and there, dying 

 and savage in such rough and dangerous cover ; but 

 next morning we found him cold and stiff. He was 

 a magnificent male, very large and heavy, enormous 

 paws and moustache a splendid " great cat." 



Anybody would have admired the country we were 

 now in had it been less dry and burnt up ; but one 

 day we were in a considerably larger nullah than 

 usual, running down into the great Godavari River, 

 which rises in the mountains overhanging the Bombay 

 coast, and traverses the whole breadth of the central 

 table-land before it reaches the ocean on the eastern 



