240 SPORT AND TRAVEL 



news, for the tiger had clearly killed more than he 

 could eat, and must have retired for the day to some 

 cave near by to sleep off his gorge. But actually to 

 track him to his lair was no easy matter, for the 

 trails of blood which led in several directions were 

 quickly lost in the low scrub, and in a few minutes 

 we had to abandon the idea. To search all the large 

 caves in the vicinity and to trust to fortune to find 

 him seemed the only thing to do. 



Then followed a scene which, under the circum- 

 stances, was thoroughly amusing, though at that 

 time I was too impatient at the delay to appreciate 

 it. The hunter-men set the idol, which, as I have 

 said, they invariably carried with them while hunt- 

 ing, on a rock, and gathering about it they lighted 

 joss-sticks and proceeded to worship in the usual 

 manner : clasping their hands, waving the joss-sticks 

 three times up and down, and then placing them in 

 the sand before the image. This done, they asked 

 the idol if the tiger was in a certain cave which 

 opened within a hundred yards of us, at the same 

 moment throwing up two pieces of wood, each with 

 one smooth and one rough side. Should they come 

 down even, the answer would be affirmative ; if odd, 

 negative. In spite of the fact that the blood-trails 

 all seemed to lead in other directions, the answer, 

 mirabile dictu, was "yes." The men immediately 



