. H. i?. H. THE PRINCE OF WALES' SHOOTS. 
679 
found afterwards apparently hit it on the tip of the tail ! There was a great 
difficulty in stirring the tigress out again from the jmigle, so we went in on 
our elephants when she suddenly came out and charged the elephant P. 
was on, which turned round so quickly that P. sat down on his topi and 
squashed it flat. The tigress was finished off, I think, by H. but I am not 
quite certain.” 
After dinner I went down to the skinning camp to see what had been done as 
regards the disposal of the trophies. It was an eerie experience tramping through 
the heavy jvmgle after nightfall. Of course in the present instance, with so many 
people about, there was not much danger though everj'where one saw the pug 
marks of tiger, and the tracks of elephants. Thanks to the efforts of my men 
the work of skinning the various trophies had been satisfactorily concluded and so 
with an easy conscience I went to bed. 
December \oth. — To-day was fixed for the first rhino shoot. We did 
not get off till 10 a.m. as there were several delays. Even after a start 
had been made there was a stoppage caused through a huge lorry breaking 
dowm on the very steep hill leading up to the entrance of the camp. 
None of the cars could get past the obstacle and there was nothing for 
it but to get out and push, and H. R. H. was the foremost of all in helping. 
At last we were all speeding along bumping over the forest road that 
had been specially constructed for the purpose of the shoots. The first 
part of the journey was through a dense piece of jungle. One realised how 
difficult a task a hunter would have in bringing his quarry to bag in a forest 
of this description. This is one of the main reasons why the ‘ ringing ’ method 
of hunting tigers is practised in Nepal. The dense jungle found in the foot 
hills of the Terai must be seen to be appreciated. Massive elephant grass up 
to 20 feet in height, and so thick as to almost obscure the elephant from the 
view of ihe Howdah occupants in his passage through it. Often it is not 
possible even to see the next elephant though it is only a few yards away . 
Our destination this morning is Thoba, a rim of 20 miles by motor. The road 
led for the most part of the way through the cool depths of the forest till the 
vicinity of Thoba was reached. Here the country was open with fields of 
yellow mustard on either hand. The machans erected in their midst told of 
the eternal warfare waged by the ryot against the jungle denizens. At the 
22nd milestone we leave the cars to mount the pad elephants. Besides H. R. 
H. the party includes Lord Cromer, Admiral Halsey, Col. Worgan, Capt. Ogilvy, 
Lord Louis Mountbatten and myself. H. R. H. looked rather tired, as even after 
yesterday’s long journey and long shoot, he had been playing polo at 6 a.m. 
Before arriving at the spot where the ring was fonned it transpired that the 
tiger had broken back. Shortly afterwards the elephant in which the Prince was 
riding got bogged in crossing a stream and H. R. H. transferred to an ordinary 
pad elephant. The sight of a line of elephants crossing a stream is always 
impressive. I call to mind as I write, the stately array of elephants crossing 
the Thute river at sunset, the great grey beasts plunging through the swirling 
water, the red light of the setting sun, and the dark forest background, all 
combined to make an impressive and unforgetable picture. 
One quickly gets accustomed to elephants as a means of transport. A pad 
elephant is generally the most comfortable and certainly the best as far as celeri- 
ty goes, though possibly not the safest, as in the case of a charging tiger the man 
on the pad takes his chance of being mauled. All honour to the plucky mahouts 
who guide these great beasts sticking gamely to their posts often in moments of 
extreme danger. Many have paid with their lives for their coolness and daring. 
In fact one of the brave fellows was killed on a pad elephant a few days after 
the Prince’s departure. The occupant of a howdah is practically safe from the 
onslaught of a charging tiger, but there is one risk which is always present in 
shooting from an elephant in heavy forest and that is the possibility of the 
