340 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE 



We arrived at the place said to be haunted by this 

 monster, and our beaters, of which we had a large 

 number, being duly posted, as well as ourselves, by 

 our captain, I found myself placed in one of the most 

 tigerish-looking places I ever saw, with only my 

 double-barrelled Westley Richards rifle to defend 

 myself with and a spare gun carried by a native, 

 who was hiding behind a tree and who would doubtless 

 bolt when danger appeared 1 



As we advanced we beat the jungles in every direc- 

 tion for three or four days, with the additional noise 

 of tom-toms and fireworks to drive her out ; but though 

 we came across her ' pugs ' and even went into her 

 lair, where we saw plenty of bones, human and animal, 

 yet we never succeeded in catching a sight of this 

 diabolically cunning brute. We attributed our want 

 of success principally to the fears of the huntsmen 

 and beaters that some serious accident might occur from 

 the well-known ferocity of the tigress, and our being 

 nearly all novices, and also to a superstitious dread 

 of feeling that it was hopeless to destroy her, as she 

 bore a charmed life. I am glad to add that this 

 proved false, for some time later another party was 

 more fortunate, and she was eventually killed, to the 

 great joy and relief of the inhabitants." 



It is usually said that possession is nine points pf 

 the law. Dr. John Macgregor l tells a good story of 

 an old lawsuit between cannibals, in which proof of 

 having eaten his rival was sufficient evidence to secure 

 the verdict. " Cannibalism has now almost entirely 

 died out among the New Zealand Maoris, but it is 

 only quite recently ; and I am not sure that it is quite 

 1 See Bibliography, 43. 



