222 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAVS 
CHAP. 
of the bone, and several shot had gone through the 
back of the throat and palate into the brain. This 
was a striking example of the utility of a handy 
smooth-bore in a howdah for close quarters. If I 
had had my favourite *577 rifle weighing 12 lbs., 
I could not have used it with one hand effectively, 
but the 7 lb. smooth-bore was as handy as a pistol. 
The wind-up of the hunt was very satisfactory to my 
men, all of whom had worked with much intelligence 
and skill. 
There were so many wild pigs throughout the 
churs below Rohumari that the tigers declined to 
kill our baits, as they could easily procure their 
much-loved food. Every night our animals were 
tied up in various directions, but we found them 
on the following morning utterly disregarded. This 
neglect on the part of the tigers imposed the neces¬ 
sity of marching in line hap-hazard for many hours 
consecutively through all the most likely places to 
contain a tiger. Many of the islands were at this 
dry season separated from each other by sandy 
channels where the contracted stream was only a 
few inches deep ; it was therefore a certain proof, 
should tigers exist upon the islands, if tracks 
were discovered on the sand. During the night it 
was the custom of these animals to wander in all 
directions, and it was astonishing upon some 
occasions to see the great distances that the tiger 
had covered, and the numerous churs that it had 
visited, either in a search for prey, or more 
probably for a companion of its own species. If 
