206 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept. 1, l&OO. 
Next moininp;, armed with spades and piclcaxe?, 
■we ngaiti set out ; but as soon as we reached the 
hole, the shikaris, after examining the place, 
pulled out a few hairs and exclainied, " Tlie 
tigress has got out dining the night ;" and sure 
enough there were the pug-niai'ks going down tlie 
nalla towards the Malni Kiver. Here was a 
serious predican-snt. A council of war was 
liasti'y fcurnmoned, and as a result the buf- 
faloes were again sent for, wliilst we waited 
in patieuce. After a few hours the buflaloes 
arrived, and the order for an advance was given. 
The shikaris and niy.;elf tracked doivn the iialhi, 
the bnft'aloes were driven through the jungle on 
eitlier bank, followed by the beatei.i. And so we 
tracked down the nalla, until we came to the river 
where it was found that the tigress had turned 
back into a dense bit of jungle a little higher u|). 
But she had not drunk water in l!ie river, and 
this was considered a good sign by the shikarif--, 
who took it to mean that slie must indeed have 
been very bad. On the edge of the river we agidn 
formed up into line, the bi;lFaloes on this occiision 
leading, and we all followed. Suddenly, after 
having proceeded a short diLt.ince, the buliiiloes 
made a mad dash forward, snorting vigorously ; 
something yellow was seen to dash past in front 
of tlie buffaloes and jump down into a small nalla 
a little to our left, whilst all the beaters and 
shikaris disappeared up trees. Meanwhile, goaded 
on by my friends, wdio were safe'v ensconced on 
the tops of trees, I crept qtiietly up to the edge 
of the nalla and peered over. There, round the 
nearest bend to the nalla, I could just make out 
THE TIGEKS' TAir., 
and little else ; however, I came to the pre- 
sent, and taking careful aim at the root thereof, 
discharged both barrels in rapid succession, 
and then gracefully retired at the double. 
After a short time, having reloaded, I again 
advanced cautiously at the ready, but jnst as 
t crept up to the edge of the nalla and peered 
over, tliere was the tigress a couple of yards off, 
staring me in the face, and she at once opened 
her mouth* making a hideous face; but like a 
flash of lightning I fiied and the tigr. ss sprang 
a few feet into the air, and fell on the same 
spot) again I fired and over she fell. But my 
blood was up; haslily reloading, I fired again 
and a^ain, and assurance was indeed made doubly 
sure. It was now getting dirk, so the tigress 
■Was hastily swung on to a pole, flamir.g torches 
\vere lighted, and our entry into camp was 
indeed a sight for the gods. My Krst tiger, and a 
tigress besides, and no end of tamasha I On the 
first day the tipress had been hit a little to the 
right side of her chest, and it had all festered 
Very badly. 
And now for the moral. When I began 
■Writing this ncco'int of how I fhot my first tiger, 
I had certainly meant to draw a moral for the 
benefit of our young shikaris. I should have felt 
that 1 had not written in vain if I could im- 
press upon them the folly of at once following 
up a wounded tiger on foot; the folly of losing 
one's head and firing at a dangerous animal at 
long ranges, especially v^hcn it is coining straig' t 
towards one; the folly of mining a valuable 
skin by firing a quantity of lead into the carcass 
of the dead animal. Ibit aft(!r all, does my story 
really bear out these excellent precepts? Had I 
followed theni, how mucli never-to-be-forgotten 
excitement .should I not have missed ? And, ap- 
paitutly, long u'j tUo luck is with one and th^ 
gods are favourable, all will end well. Aficr all, 
youth may indeed rush in wiiere exter.sion- 
"walliihs fear to tread. Felis Ch\US. 
THK CEYLOv PLUMBAGO TRADE. 
The foUo'iving is the substance of a letter ad- 
dressed 'ny Mr. T. Strercli, of Messrs. Darley 
& Butler, London, to our evening contempor- 
ary :— 
"Thejiresent jiosition of the idumbago trade 
seems to be exciting a tnore liiaii usual inlerest 
in the article, and lias leJ to some writing which 
is nut insirnciive but misleading, and which may 
therefore do h.iim in some quarters. What is the 
actual |)Osilion ? 
1. ^'or many j'ea'-s Londo.'i was the great dis- 
tributing market fur plumbago as well as for most 
of the produce of the East. Tiion considerahle 
stocks weie held lieie, and the Continental and, 
to a largo exlui!, the American trade was supplieil 
from this source. In con.^eqnence prices were 
governed chiefly by the supply on this market. 
'I'his has long cease<l to be the case, and, owing to 
faciiilios of communication and the enterprise ef 
Agents anil Merchants on the Continent and else- 
were, a more ilirent means of doing the business 
has been evolved. Instead of London, Colombo has 
become the distiibuting centre ; stocks in London 
have for some years dwindled to a quite inap- 
preciable quantity, and prices are ruled by the 
supplies available in Colombo. The transfer of 
the trade from London accounts for the fact that 
few Brokers now thoroughly know plumbago. 
Those who novv- handle it know it well, and are 
honourable and trustworthy men. 
2. The method of transacting business has 
altered to meet the altered conditions. Whereas 
formerly a u er on the Continent sent an order 
to his Ijondon Agent on a sample of plumbago 
actually in stock, under the later system he sends 
his order on a standard sample supplied to him 
by an Agent eitlier representing a shi))psr direct 
or the shipper's Agent in London, who transmits 
the order to ColomVo where the plumbago is 
bought. Thi= is a simple enough matter on the 
face of it : but the satisfactory completion of the 
contract depcn^'s upon the shipper delivering to 
the buyer a quality equal to the standard on 
v.'hieh he bought. A consumer knows what he 
can use best in his special nsanufaclure, and it 
does not suit him to receive inferior plumbago eveu 
if he pays for it less than his contract price. This 
is the great difficulty and it can only be overcome 
(1) by the shipper being exact in buying to match 
the standard, and (2) by the dealer who sells to 
him being loyal to his engagement and delivering 
the qanlity he has sold. Supposing these condi- 
tions fulfilled, theiecan be no bettei- way for mine, 
owners and dealers in Ceylon of carrying the busi- 
ness throuoh. The chief market is at their hand, 
and the orders in that market are the proper 
gauge of the demand from all the world. 
3. It has been alleged that present prices of 
plumbago are low, and it is sought to show that 
this is in consequence not of oversupply but of the 
method in which puuibago is brought and sold. It 
is not the fact, however, that prices are low. Tak- 
ing ordinary lumps as the representative grade, 
reference to the statistics will sho'W that the price 
in Colombo in the years 1891 to 1896 ranged fioiu 
Rl25-130per ton for common to R240-269 for good. 
Tliere was hardly any variation in these six years, 
though iu 1894 the price of common f^U to JK.lOQi 
