V 
THE TIGER 
177 
the body, that will ensure the death of the animal at 
latest within a few minutes. If the shot is fired at 
right angles with the flank, exactly through the 
centre of the blade-bone, the tiger will fall dead, as 
the heart will be shattered, and both shoulders will 
be broken. A shot close behind the shoulder will 
pass through the centre of the lungs, and death will 
be certain in about two minutes, but the animal will 
be able to inflict fatal injuries upon any person it 
may encounter during the first minute, before 
internal bleeding shall have produced complete 
suffocation. If the hunter is confident in the 
extreme accuracy of his rifle, a shot in the centre 
of the forehead rather above a line drawn across the 
eyes will ensure instant death. This is a splendid 
shot when the hunter sits upon an elevation and the 
tiger is approaching him ; in that position he must 
be careful to aim rather high, as, should the bullet 
miss the forehead, it will then strike the spine at the 
junction of the neck ; or if too high, it will break the 
spine between the shoulders ; at any rate, the chances 
are all in favour of the rifle, whereas, should the aim 
be too low, the bullet might penetrate through the nose, 
and bury itself within the ground, merely wounding 
the animal instead of killing. Should the hunter be 
on foot, he must on the contrary aim low, exactly at 
the centre of the nose; if he is only one inch too 
high, the tiger may escape, as the bullet may pass 
over the head and back ; but if the aim is low and 
the nose should be missed, the bullet will either 
break the neck, or regularly rake the animal by tear- 
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