40 DISTURB A TIGER. 



yond, as the height of this spot is only about 160 

 feet above the sea. 



About two o'clock in the afternoon the mountains 

 became suddenly covered with clouds, that soon 

 spread down over the plains, and we had some 

 sharp thunder and lightning, with very heavy rain, 

 till 4 p. m., when it cleared off. The thermome- 

 ter sank to 75° after this shower. Captain Black- 

 wood and I then took our guns, and walked out 

 shooting, taking three men with us, one of whom 

 spoke Malay. We crossed the brook, which was 

 not much more than knee-deep, and ascending the 

 opposite bank, came on some large paddy-fields, 

 which were now all dry and in stubble. Beyond 

 these were some old coffee plantations, and a broken 

 country full of little valleys with rattling brooks, 

 small coverts and brakes, with grassy spaces inter- 

 vening, and here and there delicious green lanes, 

 with lofty trees arching overhead. There were 

 some tobacco- fields also, to which the jungle-fowl 

 seemed partial, and in which we shot two or three. 

 After a delightful walk of two or three miles we 

 returned. In coming back we agreed to take oppo- 

 site sides of a coffee plantation, just before dusk, 

 and on rejoining my worthy chief, I found he had 

 been very near having an adventure. In beating a 

 small hollow full of jungle and dense foliage, he 

 heard a great growling and grumbling close to him, 

 and a rustle among the tall grass. His attendant 

 immediately called out, " machan" (a tiger), and 



