74 TEE ROYAL TIGER OF BENGAL. 



The following incident in tiger shooting from the 

 howdah shows that the sport so pursued is not 

 always unattended with danger : — 



Some years ago, when in company with a party 

 who were returning to camp, after a blank day in 

 the Oude Terai, and when near the tents, towards 

 sunset, a villager came up to the line of elephants, 

 and said there were two tigers in a swamp near at 

 hand, and that they had been causing great destruc- 

 tion among the cattle. 



The sportsmen — there were only two — accordingly 

 proceeded to the spot, and forming line with about 

 twenty elephants, beat up the swamp. They had 

 not proceeded far when one of the tigers was started, 

 and was killed almost by the first shot. He was 

 left lying where he fell, whilst the line beat on in 

 pursuit of the other tiger, which had doubled 

 back at the time the first was killed. The line 

 was taken back, and again beat up the swamp — 

 whilst so engaged one of the howdah elephants 

 became much excited, and could not be persuaded to 

 move on — giving evident signs of the vicinity of a 

 tiger. This presently proved to be the dead one. 

 The rest of the line meanwhile had passed on, and 

 whilst the occupant of the howdah on the elephant 

 that had been arrested by the dead tiger was 

 looking down into the grass, to see the fallen 

 tiger, he heard the shriU trumpeting of an alarmed 

 elephant ahead, accompanied by a couple of shots, 



