70 
JVILI) BEASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP, 
search of the remembered water. There was a 
slight descent to a long but narrow hollow about 50 
or 60 yards wide ; this was filled with clear water for 
an unknown length. 
I was just' about to make a remark, when, instead 
of speaking, I gently grasped the mahout by the 
head as I leaned over the howdah, and by this 
signal stopped the elephant. 
There was a lovely sight, which cheered my heart 
with that inexpressible feeling of delight which is 
the reward for patience and hard work. About 120 
yards distant on my left, the head and neck of a 
large tiger, clean and beautiful, reposed above the 
surface, while the body was cooling, concealed from 
view. Here was our friend enjoying his quiet bath, 
while we had been pounding away up and down the 
jungles which he had left. 
The mahout, although an excellent man, was 
much excited. Fire at him,” he whispered. 
“It is too far to make certain,” I replied in the 
same undertone. 
“Your rifle will not miss him; fire, or you will 
lose him. He will see us to a certainty and be off. 
If so, we shall never see him again,” continued 
Fazil, the mahout. 
“ Hold your tongue,” I whispered. “ He can’t see 
us, the sun is at our back, and is shining in his eyes 
—see how green they are.” 
At this moment of suspense the tiger quietly rose 
from his bath, and sat up on end like a dog, I 
never saw such a sight. His head was beautiful. 
