104 FOREST LIFE AND SPORT IN INDIA 
too, and sometimes humorous, to watch the approach 
of jackal or hyena full of hope that he may snatch 
an unearned meal. If these animals fall to with- 
out ceremony, it generally means that the tiger is 
not returning ; but if their hair stands erect along 
their backs, and they shuftle off with hurried apolo- 
gies, it may be inferred that the owner has left his 
own mark on his prey,-and that there is grave risk 
in interference. What is learnt in one evening 
spent in hiding in the forest will be more than could 
be picked up in a month of wandering through it: 
for in the one case you are watched by a hundred 
hidden eyes, whose owners are all intent on self- 
preservation, in the other the jungle-folk are seen in 
real life, and many new facts are stored up in memory 
which will serve to good purpose in future, even if 
the tiger should not appear. 
If, however, the tiger is returning to the kill, his 
mode of approach cannot be foretold ; for it is one of 
the greatest charms, in hunting these animals, that 
no two act exactly alike, and therefore that infer- 
ences from former observations are not always 
infallible. © One tiger may come to his evening 
meal loudly roaring, with the object of scaring 
away intruders; another may approach more quietly, 
but snarling with ill temper; and yet another may 
arrive so cautiously that, unless the trained eye can 
detect any unusual movement of stalk of grass or 
of green leaf, he may come, and, perhaps scared 
by an incautious movement, disappear unnoticed. 
Such a one will perhaps stretch a paw from the 
cover around, and draw the kill towards him while 
himself invisible. But whatever the method of 
