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Wild Beasts and Their Ways

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shoulders, and a second shot through the exact centre of the blade-bone terminated its existence. The elephant had behaved beautifully, and I have frequently looked back to that attack in thick forest, and been thankful that I was not mounted upon such animals as I have since that time had the misfortune to possess. Moolah Bux now approached the dead body, and at the command of the mahout he pulled out by the roots all the small undergrowth of saplings and dried herbage to clear a space around his late antagonist. In doing this his trunk several times touched the skin of the tiger, which he appeared to regard with supreme indifference. I gave two loud whistles with my fingers as a signal that all was over, and we were still occupied in clearing away the smaller growth of jungle, when a native approached as though very drunk, reeling to and fro, and at length falling to the ground close to the elephant's heels; the man was covered with blood, and he had evidently fainted. I had an excellent Madras servant named Thomas, who was behind me in the howdah, and he lost no time in descending from the elephant and in pouring water over the unfortunate coolie, from a jar which I handed from beneath the seat. In a few moments the man showed signs of life, and the beaters began to collect around the spot. Two men were approaching supporting a limp and half-collapsed figure between them, completely deluged with blood; this was a second victim of the tiger's attack. Both men were now laid upon the ground, and water poured over their faces and chests; but during this humane operation another party was observed, carrying in their arms the body of a third person, which was hardly to be recognised through the mass of blood coagulated and mixed with dead leaves and sand, as the tiger had dragged and torn its victim along the ground with remorseless fury. This was a sad calamity. There could be little doubt that when we heard the roars of the infuriated beast it was attacking the line of beaters, and knocking them over right and left before they had time to ascend the trees. The village was only a mile distant, and we immediately sent for three charpoys (native bed-steads) as stretchers to convey the wounded men. Demoiselle arrived with Mr. Berry, who came into my howdah, while the tiger was with some difficulty secured upon the pad of that exceedingly docile elephant. In this form we entered the village as a melancholy procession;, the news having spread, all the women turned out to meet us, weeping and wailing in loud distress, and the scene was so touching that I began to reflect that tiger-shooting might be fun to some, but death to others, who, poor fellows, had to advance unarmed through dangerous jungle. The reason for this savage attack was soon discovered. As a rule, there is little danger to a line of beaters provided the tiger is unwounded, and no person should ever place his men in the position to drive a jungle when a wounded tiger is in retreat. In such a case, if no elephants are present, it would be necessary to obtain the assistance of buffaloes; a herd of these animals driven through the jungle would quickly dislodge a tiger. We now skinned our late enemy, while a messenger was started towards Moorwarra, 9 or 10 miles distant, to prepare the authorities for the reception of our wounded men in hospital. The skin having been taken off, we discovered a small hole close to the root of the tail, which had not been observed. Upon a close examination with the finger, I found minute fragments of lead, resembling very small shot flattened upon an anvil. The hole was not deeper than 1 1/4 inch in the hard muscle of the rump, and the only effect of Berry's '577 hollow Express was to produce this trumpery wound, which had enraged the animal without creating any serious injury. It is necessary to explain that the bullet of this rifle was more than usually light and hollow; but the want of penetrating power of the hollow projectile, and the dangerous results, were terribly demonstrated, notwithstanding the large charge of 6 drams of powder. A comparison of the effect of my '577 with the same charge of 6 drams, but with a solid bullet of ordinary pure lead weighing 648 grains, was very instructive. The first shot, when the tiger was bounding in retreat after it had charged the elephant, had struck the right flank, and as the animal was moving obliquely, the bullet had passed through the lungs, then, breaking the shoulder-bone, it was found in its integrity just beneath the skin of the shoulder upon the side opposite to that of entry; it was very much flattened upon one side, as it had traversed an oblique course throughout, and had torn the inside of the animal in a dreadful manner. The second shot, fired simply to extinguish the dying tiger, passed through both shoulders, but was found under the skin upon the opposite side, flattened exactly like a mushroom, into a diameter of about 1 1/2 inch at the head, leaving about half an inch of the base uninjured which represented the stalk. This was a large tiger, and remarkably thick and heavy, with strong and hard muscles, nevertheless the penetration of the soft leaden bullet was precisely correct for that quality of game. If the '577 bullet had been made of an admixture of tin or other alloy to produce extreme hardness, it would have passed through the body of the tiger with a high velocity, but the animal would have escaped the striking energy, which would not have been expended upon the resisting surface. It is the striking energy, the knocking-down power of a projectile, that is so necessary when hunting dangerous game. I cannot help repetition in enforcing this principle: there is a minimum amount of striking energy in a light hollow projectile, and a maximum amount in a solid heavy projectile; keep the latter within the animal to ensure the effect of the blow; this will be effected by a bullet made of pure lead without admixture with other metal, to flatten upon impact, and by the expansion of surface it will create a terrific wound; at the same time it will have sufficient momentum from its great weight to push forward, and to overcome the resistance of opposing bones and muscles. A very large tiger may weigh 450 lbs.; a '577 bullet of 650 grains,

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