THE TIGER. 27 



from under his trunk and made off up the stream, L. and S. both getting shots at him. I 

 saw him go into some dense reeds by the water's edge, and on hurrying up I saw the grass 

 shaking, and fired into it. The Tiger was evidently there and nothing would induce my 

 Elephant to go in. L. and S. soon came up, and their Elephants also objected to come to 

 close quarters, and it was not for some time that the exact position of the Tiger could be 

 ascertained, so as to give him a finishing shot. 



The next thing was to beat down the grass so as to get at him, and this was also a 

 work of some time and difficulty. When we were at last able to examine him, we found that 

 he was a very heavy old male, measuring exactly nine feet nine inches in length. S.'s bullet, 

 from a heavy 12-bore rifle, had caught him fair on the shoulder, and my Express bullet had 

 hit him nearly in the centre of the chest ; it would have been difficult to place two bullets 

 better, and it was another instance of the uncertainty of ever dropping a Tiger on the spot, 

 however straight the aim may be. 



Our troubles were not yet at an end, for Elephant after Elephant absolutely refused to 

 allow the Tiger to be placed on its back ; and when we at last got one to submit, it was all 

 that we could do to hoist the Tiger on to the pad ; he was certainly a very unusually heavy one. 



Altogether we had had a' very exciting half hour, and had killed our Tiger under excep- 

 tionally difficult circumstances ; for nothing is so hard to contend with as timid Elephants 

 and unwilling Mahouts. I am afraid that some of the language used was not exactly what 

 would have been approved of at an evangelical meeting, where I believe it is customary to 

 express displeasure by praying for people. I dare say it comes to pretty much the same in 

 the end ! 



We beat through a considerable extent of forest before we returned to camp, but saw 

 nothing except a few deer and Pig. The only incident that took place was a savage 

 onslaught by S.'s Elephant (a big tusker, with a very uncertain temper) on another and 

 smaller tusker. Making a sudden rush at the unsuspecting pad Elephant, which had only 

 time to turn its stern, he gave it a tremendous blow with his tusks, the tips of which had 

 fortunately been sawn off. The pursued Elephant made the most of the forward impetus 

 thus given to him, and bolted at full speed with his assailant close behind him. It was an 

 amusing race for every one, except the riders of the two Elephants, to whom it was anything 

 but a joke, as it led straight to the sal forest, in which there would be every chance of being 

 dashed against a tree. Luckily, the extra weight told on the howdah Elephant, so that 

 although he succeeded in reaching his victim once just after the start, he gradually dropped 

 behind, and the Mahout contrived to stop him, just before reaching the forest, by throwing a 

 cloth over his eyes. The next day we marched several miles, and on the day following we 

 had a very long beat, but without seeing anything except a few deer. 



On the third morning we were just about to leave the house of the hospitable Tea- 

 planter, with whom we had been staying for a couple of days, when two natives came up and 

 implored us to come and shoot two Tigers which had been fighting close to their village all 

 night : they declared that the Tigers were still there, and that the people dared not stir out 

 of their houses. This was an opportunity not to be lost, so we at once set out for the village. 



