DESCRIPTION OF COUNTRY. 1 3 



The vegetation of the Terai is very rank and luxuriant : in addition to noble forest 

 trees, which are frequently grouped in masses affording ample shade, there are copses of 

 leafy bushes whose tangled branches are almost impenetrable ; wide plains covered with 

 high grass here and there occur ; while on the margin of some treacherous swamp or on 

 the banks of some sluggish stream, are wide belts of ' mil ' and ' burroo ' reeds growing 

 to the height of twenty feet or more, and so dense that none but the most powerful animals 

 could possibly force their way between their stems. On the edges of such cover, or in the 

 shade of some cool ' boja' (as a thick grove of trees with bushy undergrowth is called) 

 Tigers and Panthers delight to spend the hottest hours. 



It is a grand sight to see a long line of Elephants beating through the Terai for Tigers 

 — the solemn silent manner in which the line advances, each Elephant forcing his way 

 straight ahead, only deviating from his course when some large stem or branch which it is 

 beyond his power to break down, impedes his progress. The silence is occasionally broken 

 by the crash of a tree levelled by the huge beaters, by the angry trumpet of an enraged 

 animal as he is forced through an unusually thorny thicket, or by the abuse heaped upon a 

 lazy or restive Elephant by the Mahout. 



The howdah Elephants on which the sportsmen are mounted are distributed at intervals 

 along the line, and, as the beat progresses, some commotion may be observed as various 

 species of game are roused. Rifles may be raised as a rush through the high grass, and the 

 moving stems, show the direction taken by some Chi'tal or Hog Deer ; but as yet it is not 

 allowable to fire at such small deer, and the rifles are again lowered. A little later, and 

 another rush accompanied by an angry grunt, and immediately followed by the shriek of one 

 of the more timid pad Elephants, raises the hopes of those who are not near enough to see 

 that it is only a sounder of Pig, headed by a surly old boar, whose ill temper at being roused 

 from his noonday slumbers made him charge back through the beaters with a vicious cut at 

 the legs of his nearest disturber. 



The line advances half a mile further; and an old Tusker, who probably saw Tigers 

 shot before any of the sportsmen present were born, raises his trunk in an ominous manner, 

 then strikes it angrily on the ground, and shows plainly that he is aware of the presence of 

 something that displeases him. He is too staunch and experienced to be afraid of Pig, and 

 he does not even fear a Tiger, but would, if permitted, rush in on one as soon as he saw it ; 

 however, his uneasiness is pretty certain proof of a Tiger being near. The belt of cover is 

 not here very wide, so the pad Elephants are ordered to close in, and they advance in 

 compact order with a howdah on each flank, while one or two more guns have been sent half 

 a mile further on to where there is a break in the cover. 



The Tiger, — or there may be a family of them, — ought now to be considered as bagged ; 

 and it entirely depends upon circumstances whether they are shot down at once as soon as 

 seen, or only ' padded ' after a prolonged and exciting fight. Most of my readers have pro- 

 bably read enough " Tiger stories " to prevent the necessity for my giving a long account of 

 a Tiger fight now, more especially as I have related what I have actually seen in the chapter 

 devoted to that animal. 



