prevented him from joining in the chase, he always
appeared to part with her with regret, and to caution her not to run
into useless danger; and when we returned at night, the old man's eyes
sparkled with the rapture of dotage as he welcomed her return.

The method of our chase was to beat the country, with a number of men,
in a vast circle, until we had gathered all the game into one thicket;
then the strongest warriors with their large spears went in and drove
out the game, which was killed by the hunters who hovered about within
the circle.

The animals which we had to encounter were large fierce black pigs,
leopards, jackals, tigers, mountain cats, and others which I have no
name for;--and in spite of the ferocity of many of these animals when
they bounded out, they were met with such a shower of javelins, or
transfixed by the strong stabbing-spears of the warriors, that few
escaped, and they rarely did any mischief. One day, however, the
beaters having just entered a thicket, Whyna, who was eager for the
sport, and plied within the circle with the other hunters, hearing a
rustling in the jungle, went to the verge of it, to be the first to
strike the animal which came out. As usual, I was close to her, when a
large tiger burst out, and she pierced him with her javelin, but not
sufficient to wound the animal so severely as to disable him. The tiger
turned, and I drove my spear into his throat. This checked him, as it
remained in, but in a spring which he gave the handle broke short off,
and although the iron went further in, our danger was imminent. Whyna
ran, and so did I, to escape from the beast's fury; for although, after
I had wounded it with my spear, we had both retreated, we were not so
far, but that in two or three bounds he would have been upon us. My
mistress was as fleet as the wind, and soon passed me, but as she passed
me she caught me by the hand, and dragged me along at a pace that with
difficulty I could keep my legs. The surrounding hunters, alarmed at
her danger, and knowing what they had to expect from the mercy of the
old king if she was destroyed by the animal, closed in between us and
the tiger, and after a fierce combat, in which some were killed and many
wounded, they despatched him with their spears. The head of the animal,
which was of unusual size, was cut off and carried home to the old king
in triumph; and when he heard of the danger that Whyna had been in, he
caressed her with