Year: 1878

CAluu4AAS OeloAos


AHUNT AFTER TIGERS.


The elephants that morning were un-
usually uneasy and fdgety, and, had no
doubt, instructive knowledge that they
would soon be called upon to engage in
other than.their ordinary daily duty.


Elephants in some ways much resem-
BILE horses, and most particularly in this
respect-that, as long as they have their
wits about them, they can be trusted to
display more than ordinary sagacity;
but once they lose their heads or become
furried, then there is an end of all hope
of making them behave otherwise than
in the most idiotic manner.


As we logged along the jerky motion
that the elephant lent to the howdah,
which was passed on to me, its occupant,
was anything but pleasant; however, in
time usage made it less and less unbear-
able, until at length l rather liked it than
otherwise.


Standing on the animals back behind
each howdah, and holding on to the
same, was a shikari, whose duty it was to
keep a sharp lookout and to apprise us
the instant he spied game of any sort.
The practiced eyes of these fellows as
tonished me considerably. Though al
ways carefully on the alert myself, never
once did / sight game without my shik-
ari having done so and pointed it out to
before hand.


We had thirteen elephants all told,
were pushing our way. through very
small field, which brought us rather too
close to one another, when suddenly my
shikari, in an excited manner, pointed
straight to the elephants head; but ],
with straining my eyes, could see nothing.
Keenly alert for some sign of life, Twas
soon startled by quick, rushing sound
quite close, and the next instant the
crack of two or three rifles was heard.


"We've killed a big tigerP suddenly
shouted one of our party, to which we
laconically replied, ''Oh, ahp -


But it was a fact. He had seen the
beast standing in a path we were follow.
ing, and shot him in the chest, F. finish
ing him with shell.


He was beauty, not very long, but
very muscular and thick-set- picture
of physical strength. Those who have
seen tigers forearm after the skin has
been taken of, revealing the blue mus
Gle and sinew, have seen the perfection
OF physical OTSdulZdI1Ou.


Some two hours after the kill, an event
happened that provoked a considerable
amount of merriment among the rest of
the party, but which to me was anything
but mirth-inspiriting. One of our party
mad knocked overa deer, which, on being
hit, cried most pitiously. My elephant,
on hearing the sounds, stopped suddenly,
paved for a moment, then turning sharp
Ao,,J I,
at the same time brandishing his trunk
and tail in the air, and believing with
all his might, as if the bullet had hit
him and not the deer.


As luck would have ii, there were very
few trees about; if there had been many,
the howdah and would in all probabil-
ity very soon have formed mixed ruin
on the ground. As it was, the howdah
sWayed In the most awkward and alarm
ing manner, and seemed likely at any
moment to jerk itself free from its fasten-
ings.


Not particularly caring for the motion,
and not knowing how far the joke might
be extended, shouted to the mahout to
stop the brute, he all the time making
frantic endeavors to do so by belaboring,
in the most relentless manner, the skull
Ol lll6 DOdSb Will I'LL
that he was welding with both hands
1t was all Of no use, and not till he re-
sorted to the cruel plan of digging the |
crook into theanin1afs Is flesh did ne man
age to pull him up. .-.-- %


We Wended our way toa reedy swamp.
distant some three miles. On the far
side was high bank, and then the for
est began.


FVI,a roadc bod baar b,,r,aJ +o soyoa |
extent, and the water had dried up,
leaving the ground sticky rather than
sWampy, and into this we urged our un-
willing elephants. lAftera while friend |
fired twice, and he called out to us that |
he had killed a tiger that had been |
sneaking slowly toward the wood.


On crossing and dismounting, we found |
that one shot had missed completely, and |
that the other had gone through his |
back, passing near the heart. There |
were two or three old wounds, which the |
poor beast had licked and thus healed:
but one bullet had gone through the ball |
OF the fore paw, and had evidently caused |
exquisite pain. The tiger had been unable |
to forage for himself, and was evidently |
His was happy release.


= The next beat strip of country inter- |
sected by the dry bed of a mountain |
stream, where some years before a party
including myself, had killed a fine tfgress.
The grass had been burnt, and there was
no covert for large game. For some
miles we followed the course of this /
ravine,


At some distance we saw the elephants
being hurried by the mahouts in
hcular direction, and on coming nearer
we saw our friends firing repeatedly at a
moving object in the grass. A leopard
shortly after ran out and lay down in the
open, where it received the coup de
grace.


Ny elephant knocked up beast that
ran to my right, and 1 followed. It
turned out to be tiger cub, which
brought down ,adly wounded, and which
in this condition made Intellectual efforts
to get up and bite the elephant. The
mother had tried to sneak off ahead,
leaving her cub to take care of itself.
Madame tried to shelter herself behind |
that stump of tree, but this protection
proved inadequate, ana she was polished


A nobob, in an unusual fit of candor,
communicated to us that he knew a
likely place for tigers, and we trudped
OIL under his guidance. The dav was
very hot, not a breath of wind. and owing
70 the many trees, ones umbrella was of
little use. The sal trees are bv no means
outrageous, and the sun beat down heav-
Ay. Our guide took us along the bed of
q mountain torrent; there was no cover
and we thought we were on a
FOOLS errand.


I was sitting down and listening to the