A TIGER KILLED. 
289 
awaited the issue of my imprudent aggression. After 
the lapse of about a minute, the tiger rose and shook its 
head, still continuing to yell with frightful vehemence. 
I could perceive that its face was dreadfully lacerat- 
ed by the shot ; nevertheless it soon became evident 
that the wounded animal had not been totally blind- 
ed, for with a sudden sharp roar it shuffled towards 
the tree, the wounded leg dangling behind it perfectly 
useless. 
When it reached the tree which I had ascended, 
to my consternation it attempted to scramble up the 
trunk ; and as this was low and its branches nu- 
merous, I began to fear that I had calculated upon 
my security too soon. The ferocious brute was al- 
ready upon the lower boughs, and I was beginning to 
think of some effectual mode of frustrating its savage 
design against me, when I perceived a charcoal-burn- 
er advancing armed with the instrument of his vo- 
cation. Reaching the spot where the tiger was still 
struggling to propel its ponderous body between the 
thick branches of the tree, on which I was already 
beginning to tremble for my life, he planted a well- 
directed stroke upon the creature’s hind-leg that had 
not been wounded, and dividing the tendons, my ene- 
my dropped powerless before him. With a deliberation 
that showed he was no novice at this sanguinary 
work, he despatched the now impotent animal by 
giving it one or two desperate gashes on the throat, 
which severed the windpipe, and soon laid it lifeless at 
his feet. 
At my request he skinned it, and carried it behind 
me to the cavern, where I was greeted by the earnest 
2 c 
