bullet through the dense thicket overhead, and immediately stops,
and you lose all idea of his whereabouts. When you see an animal
moving before you in long jungle, it should be your object to follow
him slowly and patiently, till you can get a sight of him, and see
what sort of beast he is. Firing at the moving grass is worse than
useless. Keep as close behind him as you can, make signs for the other
elephants to close in; stick to your quarry, never lose sight of him
for an instant, be ready to seize the first moment, when more open
jungle, or some other favourable chance, may give you a glimpse of his
skin.

Another caution should be observed. Never fire down the line. It is
astonishing how little will divert a bullet, and a careless shot is
worse than a dozen charging tigers. If a tiger does break back, let
him get well away behind the line, and then blaze at him as hard as
you like. It is particularly unpleasant to hear a bullet come singing
and booming down the line from some excited dunderhead on the far left
or right.

A tiger slouching along in front moves pretty fast, in a silent
swinging trot; the tops of the reeds or grass sway very gently, with a
wavering, side to side motion. A pig rushes boldly through, and a deer
will cause the grass to rock violently to and fro. A buffalo or
rhinoceros is known at once by the crashing of the dry stalks, as his
huge frame plunges along; but the tiger can never be mistaken. When
that gentle, undulating, noiseless motion is once seen, be ready with
your trusty gun, and remove not your eye from the spot, for the mighty
robber of the jungle is before you.

CHAPTER XXI.

Howdahs and howdah-ropes.--Mussulman custom.--Killing animals for
food.--Mysterious appearance of natives when an animal is killed.
--Fastening dead tigers to the pad.--Present mode wants improving.
--Incident illustrative of this.--Dangerous to go close to wounded
tigers.--Examples.--Footprints of tigers.--Call of the tiger.--Natives
and their powers of description.--How to beat successfully for tiger.
--Description of a beat.--Disputes among the shooters.--Awarding
tigers.--Cutting open the tiger.--Native idea about the liver of the
tiger.--Signs of a tiger's presence in the jungle.--Vultures.--Do they
scent their quarry or view it?--A vulture carrion feast.

The best howdahs are light, single-seated ones, with strong, light
frames of wood and cane-work, and a moveable seat with a leather
str