A THRILLING SCENE. 201 



we turned. The Parsees stood as if paralyzed the Hin- 

 doos shrieked and danced, and seemed senseless with 

 fright. Hurrying away through the jungle we could oc- 

 casionally catch a glimpse of the striped back of a tiger ! 

 and a faint shriek told us what he had dared to seize foi 

 his meal. Humanity and our own burning thirst for dis- 

 tinction in this region, new to us, banished all feelings uf 

 dread, and we started away, with ready rifles in pursuit, 

 the rest of the party following, not knowing what else to 

 do for safety. The tiger had disappeared beneath the 

 thick foliage of the bushes, and the cessation of the victim's 

 shrieks left us no clue to the ferocious animal's whereabouts. 

 When suddenly, within about fifty yards, sounded the tre- 

 mendous voice of a lion a sound we could never forget ; 

 and a succession of awful growls, snaps, and loud rustles 

 among the bushes, led us to believe that the two tyrants of 

 the forests were contending for the mastery. Anxious to 

 gain a view of such a fearful struggle, we pressed forward, 

 till emerging from a clump of bushes, we beheld almost 

 at our horse's feet, the lion and tiger rolling over and over, 

 in a conflict which only death could interrupt. The man- 

 gled Hindoo was lying senseless upon his face, within a 

 few yards of the ferocious combatants. We did not fire, 

 but reserved our bullets till the conflict should destroy 

 one of the beasts. 



It was a horrible struggle. The tiger was quite as large 



