510 JOURNAL, BOMBAY KAfURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 189!?. 



bamboo leaves and an occasional footprint guided us up to the roeks. 

 We got above the cave and threw down stones. There was an 

 aperture iu the rocks above where the cave was said to be, and I 

 threw down a cracker which fell right into the cave and popped and 

 sputtered splendidly^ finally setting fire to a lot of dried leaves, 

 which blazed up with a roaring sound and sent clouds of smoke 

 through the cave. Still no sign of the tigTess. The men all 

 agi"eed that she had gone on, and went down the rocks to where 

 the trail had last been seen. I climbed down in front to 

 have a look at the cave. The rocky cave was certainly empty, 

 but lower down was an earthen burrow beneath the rocks. 

 I got on my hands and knees and peeped into it. There she 

 was, barely three yards in front of me, glaring out of the gloom, 

 and crouching as if to spring ! Her face was resting on her paws: a 

 horrible devilish face it looked. The next few seconds were critical. 

 I thought " steady does it," and quickly steadied the rifie on her. 

 As I aimed she gave a growl, and firing into her opening mouth 

 I executed a strategic movement outwards and to the right. This 

 evolution was not skilfully performed, as in attempting to beat the 

 record I fell just outside the cave, and thought for a moment that 

 I was going to verify the opinion that one feels ''just as usual 

 ■while being chawed up." However, I picked myself up double quick 

 and reloaded, but could not see her in the cave through the 

 smoke. AVhen it cleared off, my shikari, who had joined me with the 

 second rifle, said : "I see one eye." After a little while I made it 

 out ^ and fired again, hitting her exactly in the centre of the eye- 

 scoring a tiger's eye in fact — and smashing one side of the face. 

 I thought she had had enough, but when after a few minutes we 

 again looked in, the otlier eye still glared bright and green out of 

 the darkness. She had retreated a few feet further into the cave — 

 and I had to give her a finisher in the forehead before I felt it safe 

 to let a man go in. We soon had a rope round her neck and hauled 

 her out. She measured 8 feet 1 inch from nose to tail (tail measui^ed 

 32 inches). She was in very fine condition, and the |70Si{ mortem dis- 

 closed four little tiger cubs about 8 inches long each. We found that 

 my first shot in the cave had blown away her right upper canine ; 

 the fragments of the bullet had smashed some incisors and 



