ne of the natives went a few
hundred yards away, to a little pond near, where he thought it
possible to spear some salmon. He waded out till he was immersed to
his waist, and then with his spear raised, stood motionless as a
statue for several minutes. Suddenly he darted the spear into the
water and drew out a large salmon, which he threw to the shore, and
their resumed his stationary position. In twenty minutes he took three
or four salmon, and then started to return to camp. Just as he climbed
the bank and had gathered his fish, a large tiger darted from the
underbrush near by, and sprung upon him as a cat would spring upon a
mouse.

Stopping not a moment, the tiger ran up the hillside and disappeared.
I was looking toward the river just as the tiger sprang upon him, and
so were two of the natives; we all uttered a cry of astonishment, and
were struck motionless for an instant, though only for an instant. The
unfortunate man did not struggle with the beast, and as the latter did
not stop to do more than seize him, I suspected that the fright and
suddenness of the attack had caused a fainting fit. I and my Russian
companion seized our rifles, and the natives their spears, and started
in pursuit.

We tracked the tiger through the underbrush, partly by the marks left
by his feet, but mainly by the drops of blood that had fallen from his
victim. Going over a ridge, we lost the trail, and though we spread
out and searched very carefully, it was nearly an hour before we could
resume the pursuit. Every minute seemed an age, as we well knew that
the tiger would thus gain time to devour his prey. Probably I was less
agitated than the natives, but I freely and gladly admit that I have
never had my nerves more unstrung than on that occasion, though I have
been in much greater peril. We searched through several clumps of
bushes, and examined several thickets, in the hope of finding where
the tiger had concealed himself. The natives approached all these
thickets with fear and trembling, so that most of the searching was
done by the Russian members of the party.

Just as we were beating around a little clump of bushes, fifteen or
twenty yards across, my companion on the other side shouted:

"Look out; the tiger is preparing to spring upon you." Instantly I
cocked my rifle and fired into the bushes; they were so dense that I
could hardly discern the outline of the beast, who had me in full
view, and was crouching preparatory to