it had infested the village, and kept the inhabitants in a
state of constant alarm. Indeed, several families had deserted the
place solely through fear of this terrible tiger; and those that
remained were in the habit, as soon as night came on, of shutting
themselves up within their houses, without daring to stir out again till
morning. In the instance of one of the children, even this precaution
had not served, for the fierce tiger had broken through the frail wall
of bamboos, and carried the child off before the eyes of its afflicted
parents!

Several times the timid but incensed villagers had assembled and
endeavoured to destroy this terrible enemy. They had found him each
time in his lair; but, on account of their poor weapons and slight skill
as hunters, he had always been enabled to escape from them. Indeed on
such occasions the tiger was sure to come off victorious, for it was in
one of these hunts that the man had fallen a sacrifice. Others of the
villagers had been wounded in the different conflicts with this pest of
the jungle. With such a neighbour at their doors no wonder they had
been living in a state of disquietude and terror.

But why their joy at the approach of our travellers?

This was proudly explained by Ossaroo, who of course had reason to be
proud of the circumstance.

It appeared that the fame of the shikarree, as a great tiger-hunter, had
preceded him, and his name was known even in the Terai. The villagers
had heard that he was approaching, accompanied by two Feringhees, (so
Europeans are called by the natives of India,) and they hoped, by the
aid of the noted shikarree and the Feringhee Sahibs, to get rid of the
dreaded marauder.

Ossaroo, thus appealed to, at once gave his promise to aid them. Of
course the botanist made no objection, and Caspar was delighted with the
idea. They were to remain all night at the village, since nothing could
be done before night. They might have got up a grand battue to beat the
jungle and attack the tiger in his lair, but what would have come of
that? Perhaps the loss of more lives. None of the villagers cared to
risk themselves in such a hunt, and that was not the way that Ossaroo
killed his tigers.

Karl and Caspar expected to see their companion once more try his
stratagem of the birdlime and the leaves; and such at first was his
intention. Upon inquiry, however, he found that no birdlime was to be
had. The villagers did not know how to