Tiger'Shooting 277 



easy sideways shot. J. fired, and he sprang out, 

 falling dead, at the same moment ; but such was the 

 impetus of his spring, and so steep was the hill, that 

 he went off, hurtling down end over end like a hoop, 

 and would most certainly have gone straight to the 

 bottom had he not fetched up against a tree. There 

 he lay, behind a broad trunk. 



He had a fine and most formidable pair of tushes, 

 sharp as razors, protruding nearly three inches from 

 his great jaw, the remaining two-thirds being imbedded 

 in the jaw itself. We left him there and walked 

 back to Cherla ; then sent the shikari and six coolies 

 to bring him home. The pork we distributed among 

 the villagers. 



About this time it became very much hotter than 

 hitherto, and until the end of our two months the 

 heat really was intense; 115 in the shade in our 

 tents was the highest, and I assure my readers that 

 sometimes it was awful. There was often a strong 

 wind, but it was so burningly hot that it only made 

 matters worse. At one camp we built a little hut 

 with thatched straw sides, and made coolies pour 

 water over the straw every hour, keeping them soak- 

 ing wet ; and then, as the wind blew through, it got 

 cooled and was quite fresh inside, though the cool, 

 damp air attracted hordes of insects. I used to soak 

 a handkerchief in water and put it in the crown of 

 my topi, resoaking it at every pool of water we 

 ever came across, even though it was very far from 

 cold. 



