220 SINGULAR MODE OP HUNTING THE TIGEE. 



bed of the stream ran dry again. As the watery moon 

 appeared, I looked out and saw that the carcass of the 

 cow was still untouched. 



I watched about an hour, and then I was about to enjoy 

 a doze, when my ear caught a thrilling echo among the 

 rocks and then the distant roar which could not be mis- 

 taken. Aye, a roar and an answer. Tiger and tigress ! 

 Hope filled to overflowing the monsters of the jungle 

 were coming within reach of my rifle. Stones and gravel 

 rattled just behind the hut, on the path by which we came 

 and went, and a heavy step passed and descended the 

 slope into the bed of the stream. I heard the sand cranck- 

 ing under his weight before I dared to look, and then 

 looming in the moonlight, there stood the long, sleek, but 

 terrible form of a tiger, smelling the slaughtered cow. The 

 weight of such a beast would have crushed the frail tene- 

 ment in which I was posted. As if the excitement was 

 insufficient, the monster gazing down the dry water-course, 

 caught sight of his companion who stood irresolutely, 

 about twenty yards up the bed of the stream. The male 

 walked around the carcass two or three times, and then 

 began to tear it with a skill peculiar to his tribe. As he 

 stood with his two feet upon the haunch, as he tore out a 

 beef- stake, I grasped a rifle, and ran the muzzle out of the 

 little port. The continual motion of the tiger's body pre- 

 vented my getting a good shot for some time. But as I 



