CONSERVATORS’ WORK 153 
pressed him towards the open country, where at last, 
after furious roaring, he stood at bay. From the 
elephant only an indistinct mass of yellow fur could 
be seen in the bushes, and the driver remained 
unmoved by entreaties to approach. He was un- 
nerved by the angry threats of the tiger, and fearful 
lest his elephant should be attacked; and then it 
was that, weary of further argument, the valiant 
Pickles sprang from the “ howdah ” and disappeared 
in the bushes, his departure rousing the courage of 
the mahout, who felt he could not refuse to follow 
and rescue a favourite dog. We moved a few paces 
forward, and met for the first time face to face. The 
tiger took no notice of the dog, who hung silently 
from his ear, but he fixed his yellow eyes unblink- 
ingly on the hunter, then slowly sank to earth with 
a bullet in his neck. Of the crowd who returned to 
camp, Pickles was perhaps alone without regrets. 
He had done his duty according to his lights, and 
often, surely, lived the fight over again when, with 
twitching feet and muffled yelping, he lay asleep 
before the camp-fire. 
The Chakhia Forest holds a fine stock of panthers, 
and our black goat, Satan, called up several to their 
death. She became an adept at the sport, and 
lived to an honourable old age without an accident. 
But some wily beasts there were who would not 
reply to her winning cries; to those we had to 
sacrifice strange goats on the altar of sport, in hopes 
that an aroused appetite might lead to their destruc- 
tion. In the Mandndla there lived such a one, 
reputed to be of great size and cunning, so that our 
endeavours were scoffed at by the villagers as fore- 
