THE TIGER 225 



ments of tlie tiger even may often be traced up to eight 

 or nine o'clock by the voices of monkeys and peafowl, the 

 chatter of crows and small birds, and the bark of sambar 

 and spotted deer. The whole nocturnal hfe of the beasts 

 of the forest is then displayed in the clearest manner to 

 the hunter whose eye has been trained to read the book of 

 nature; and I know nothing more interesting than a 

 ramble in the cool gray of a summer morning along the 

 stream-beds of a tract in which hve a great variety of wild 

 animals. The river beds usually contain large stretches of 

 sand and gravel, with here and there a pool of water, the 

 margin of which will be covered with tracks of deer, wild 

 hogs, bears, etc., and here and there the mighty footprints 

 of the jungle king himself. All must come here to drink 

 in the cool night succeeding a burning day; and in the 

 neighbourhood of the water occur most of the tragical 

 interviews between the herbivora and their carnivorous 

 foes. Everywhere the cruel tyranny of the tiger has 

 imprinted itself on the faithful page. His track to the 

 water is straight and leisurely, while that of the nilgai or 

 spotted deer is halting and suspicious, and apt to end in a 

 wild scurry to right and left where it crosses the tiger's. 

 Here and there bleaching skulls and bones show that the 

 whole herd have not always made good their escape. The 

 ambush of dried leaves by the pass down the bank marks, 

 perhaps, an unsuccessful stratagem; and not seldom the 

 trampled soil and patches of blood and hair, show where a 

 stubborn boar has successfully resisted the attack of a 

 tiger. Bruin alone is tolerably safe from the assault of 

 the tiger ; but he, too, gets out of his way like the rest, and 

 drinks at a difierent pool. 



The sportsman will not be long under the guidance of 

 the village shikari before he comes on tracks of tigers. 

 Where one or more have been hving some time in the 

 neighbourhood, footprints of many dates will be found in 

 the sandy bed of almost every nala. The history and 

 habits of the tigers will generally ooze out of the local 

 hunter at the sight of these marks. When the fresh 

 tracks of the previous night are found his impassive features 

 wiU be Ughted into interest, and, as he follows the trail 



