II 
THE ELEPHANT 
63 
a mile in width, bounded upon one side by the 
cleared level ground in cultivation, and on the other 
by the high grass jungle we had left, but this had 
been partially scorched along the edge in the attempts 
to burn. 
A good look-out would have spied any animal at 
a hundred and fifty yards had it attempted to leave 
the jungle. 
As the country was a dead level, it was difficult 
to forecast the retreat of a tiger when driven from 
such a thicket, and it was a serious question whether 
it would be possible to dislodge him. 
Whenever you commence a drive, the first con¬ 
sideration should be, “If the animal is there, where 
did it come from?”—as it will in all probability 
attempt to retreat to that same locality. There was 
no possibility of guessing the truth in such a country 
of dense grass, and with numerous islands of the 
same character throughout this portion of the Brah¬ 
maputra, but there was one advantage in the fact 
that one side was secure, as the tiger would never 
break covert upon the cultivated land ; there re¬ 
mained the opposite side, which would require strict 
watching, as he would probably endeavour to slink 
away through the high grass to some distant and 
favourite retreat. 
I therefore determined to take my stand at the 
end of the thick jungle which we had passed upon 
arrival, at the corner where it joined the parched 
grass that had been fire-scorched, and near the spot 
where the cow had been dragged in. I accordingly 
