TIGER HUNTING IN INDIA. 



C. E. ASHBURNER. 



Although only the 15th of March, the 

 weather was so hot that dinner was served 

 in front of the row of tents which ^had 

 formed our home at Gurwaryhaan for near- 

 ly a month. If we dined with no roof over 

 us but the Indian sky it was not because 

 we were in any sense roughing it. Our 

 commissariat officer knew his duty too 

 well for that. Fifty miles from the 

 nearest town, we fared as luxuriously as 

 if we had been in London or New York. 



Though the silver and glass had been 

 transported for miles in bullock carts over 

 rough roads, not a scratch nor a chip bore 

 witness to the fact. Our Portuguese cook 

 was a prince among cooks, and with a 

 ring of stones in lieu of a range, could 

 turn out a dinner fit for the most fastidious. 



Now to the diners came the dignified 

 Mahommedan butler and said gravely, 



"A big tiger near Oobra, sahibs. She 

 kill 2 bullocks and one old woman this 

 morning." 



Orders were given to our Bhul shikari 

 to take his men out early next morning, 

 find the tiger's tracks and watch the jun- 

 gle in which she was until our arrival. 

 Guns, rifles and cartridges were examined 

 and given over to the care of the head 

 shikari who was to accompany us. 



By s o'clock next morning we were all 

 astir; but before starting I will introduce 

 my companions. First, our generous host, 

 whom I will call Brown. Not more than 

 middle sized, he was strong and full of 

 dogged British pluck. "The sort of man 

 to have at your back in a row," I once 

 heard him described. 



Of Mrs. Brown, it is only necessary to 

 say she was worthy of her husband, and 

 just the wife for a man whose life was 

 spent mostly in the wilds. 



The third of our party was a lank, bony 

 young fellow, a captain of cavalry. No 

 horse was too difficult for him to manage, 

 no country too rough for him to ride 

 over; but he was too reckless, when 

 excited,- to suit most sober minded shikar 

 parties. Then there was Tompkins, a boy 

 of 18 years, who had been more than 6 

 months in the country without learning a 

 dozen words of the language. Having on 

 one occasion succeeded in slaughtering a 

 fawn, he considered himself a great au- 

 thority on every subject connected with 

 sport. This youth had been consigned by 

 his father to Brown's care, and should be- 

 fore this have passed his first examina- 

 tion in Hindostani, and have joined a na- 

 tive regiment. Finding life pleasant and 

 his quarters good, he did not trouble him- 



self to study, and was still unprepared for 

 his examination. 



The dream of my life had been to visit 

 India. Having at length attained my de- 

 sire, I considered myself lucky beyond ex- 

 pression in having received an introduc- 

 tion to Brown and his wife. To be intro- 

 duced to a man in India means that you 

 share his house or camp, eat at his table, 

 ride his horses and generally enjoy your- 

 self as if you were his oldest friend. 



At last we were off just as the sun rose. 

 First down a steep path to the river, then 

 in single file across it, a scramble up the 

 farther bank, and we came together in 

 the broad road cut through the jungle. 

 We saw the usual jungle sights: the track 

 of a bear; a magnificent nilgau, or blue 

 bull; a herd of spotted deer; monkeys 

 that swing from bough to bough; and 

 peacocks, parrots and innumerable other 

 birds on all sides. 



We kept on at a steady canter, being 

 anxious to reach the scene of action as 

 early as possible. We swept past a large 

 native village, with its high walls and nar- 

 row gateways, recalling the days when the 

 villagers lived in constant terror lest the 

 nearest Mahratta chieftain should swoop 

 down upon them. At last we left the 

 road, and half an hour's riding over rough 

 ground took us to another village. Be- 

 yond that we came to a magnificent grove 

 of mango trees, under which we found a 

 small camp pitched by our servants and 

 refreshments awaiting us. 



Near by stood Brown's head shikari, 

 who long before daylight had sent his 

 men in search of the tiger's lair. He re- 

 ported having followed the brute into a 

 dense thicket of perhaps 20 acres, which 

 was then surrounded by men stationed in 

 trees about 50 yards apart. This plan of 

 ringing a tiger is called getting him into 

 a ghira, and when surrounded in this 

 way the chances are 20 to one he will 

 meet his fate. He is driven from the 

 covert toward the sportsmen either by 

 elephants or by men walking in line and 

 tapping the trees. If he is inclined to go 

 the wrong way, the native nearest him 

 has merely to make a slight noise; then 

 the animal either retreats or moves in 

 another direction until brought up by a 

 bullet. 



There we were joined by Captain W., 

 who brought a good shikar elephant well 

 known throughout the district. This ar- 

 rival gave us the use of the elephant for 

 beating purposes, and made another gun 

 available. 



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