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Wild Beasts and Their Ways

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grass. To effect his destruction, at least two scouting elephants should be thrown forward a quarter of a mile ahead from either flank of the advancing line; and, according to the conditions of the locality, two or more elephants with intelligent mahouts should be sent forward to take up positions ahead of the line at the terminus of the beat. These men should be provided with small red flags as signals should the tiger show itself; the waving of flags together with a shout will head the tiger, and drive it back towards the advancing line of elephants; at the same time the signal will be understood that a tiger is afoot, and the mahouts will be on the alert. When a tiger is headed in this manner it will generally crouch, and endeavour to remain concealed until the elephants are close upon it. Upon such occasions it will probably spring upon the first disturber with a short harsh roar, and unless stopped or turned by a shot, it will possibly break through the line and escape to the rear, as many of the elephants will be scared and allow the enemy to pass. Should this occur, it will be necessary to counter-march, and to reverse the position by sending some active elephants rapidly upon either flank to take up certain points of observation about 500 yards distant, according to the conditions of the ground. This forms the principal excitement of tiger-shooting in high grass, as the sport may last for hours, especially if there are only two or three guns in a long line of elephants. If there is no heavy forest at hand, but only grass jungle, no tiger should be allowed to escape if the management is good, and the patience of the hunters equal to the occasion. I must give every credit to the Rajah Suchi Khan for this virtue, and for the perseverance he and his friends exhibited in working for so many hours in the burning sun of April to so little purpose. There was very little game upon the islands near Dhubri beyond a few hog-deer and wild pigs, and it appeared mere waste of time to wander in a long line of beating elephants from sunrise till the afternoon with scarcely a hope of tigers. However, upon the second day, when our patience was almost exhausted, we met a native who declared that a tiger had killed one of his cows only two days before. Taking him as a guide, he led us about two miles, and in a slight hollow among some green tamarisk we were, after a long search, introduced to a few scattered bones, all that remained of the native cow which had been recently killed, and the skeleton dislocated by jackals and wild pigs. Unless the tiger had been disturbed there was every chance of its being somewhere in the neighbourhood; we therefore determined to beat every yard of the island most carefully, although it extended several miles in length, and was about one mile in maximum width. The line was formed, but no scouts were thrown forward, nor were any precautions taken; it was simply marching and counter-marching at hazard. Hours passed away and nothing was moved to break the monotony of the day but an occasional pig, whose mad rush for the moment disturbed the elephants. It was 2 P.M.: hot work for ladies--my wife was in the howdah behind me. I confess that I am not fond of the fair sex when shooting, as I think they are out of place, but I had taken Lady Baker upon this occasion at her special request, as she hoped to see a tiger. We were passing through some dense green tamarisk, growing as close and thick as possible, in a hollow depression, which during the wet season formed a swamp, when presently the elephants began to exhibit a peculiar restlessness, cocking their ears, raising their trunks, and then emitting every kind of sound, from a shrill trumpet to the peculiar low growl like the base note of an organ, broken suddenly by the sharp stroke upon a kettle-drum, which is generally the signal of danger or alarm. This sound is produced by striking the ground with the extremity of the trunk curled up. I felt sure that a tiger was in this dense covert. The question was how to turn him out. The tamarisk was about 20 feet high, but the stems were only as thick as a man's arm; these grew as close together as corn in a field of wheat; the feathery foliage of green was dark through extreme density, forming an opaque mass that would have concealed a hundred tigers without any apparent chance of their discovery. Although this depression was only about 6 feet below the general level of the island, it formed a strong contrast in being green, while the grass in the higher level was a bright yellow. The bottom had been swampy, which explained the vigorous vegetation; and although this lower level was not wider than 80 or 90 yards, it was quite a quarter of a mile in length. Neither the mahouts nor their animals appeared to enjoy the fun of beating out this piece of dense covert, as they were well aware that the tiger was "at home." As it was absolutely necessary to form and keep a perfect line, the elephants being shoulder to shoulder, I begged the Rajah and his friends to ride towards the terminus of the tamarisk bottom, placing a gun at the extreme end and upon either side; while I should accompany the beaters to keep a correct line, and to drive the covert towards them. I felt sure that by this arrangement the tiger could not escape without being seen. This was well carried out; they took their places, and after some delay I managed to collect about forty elephants into a straight line, not more than 4 or 6 feet from each other. The word was given for the advance, and the effect was splendid. The crash through the yielding mass was overpowering; the dark plumes of the tamarisk bowed down before the irresistible phalanx of elephants; the crackling of the broken stems was like the sound of fire rushing through a cane-brake, and this was enlivened by sudden nervous squeals, loud trumpets, sharp blows of kettle-drums, deep roars, and all the numerous sounds which elephants produce when in a state of high nervous excitement. I felt sure that at times the tiger was only a few feet in our advance, and that it was slinking away before the line. The elephants increased in excitement; sometimes two or three twisted suddenly round, and broke the line. A halt was ordered, and although it was

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