TIGER-HUNTING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14925, 24 February 1912, Page 2 (Supplement)

TIGER-HUNTING.

SOME STORIES OP THE INDIAN

JUNGLE.

However little the man at homo may understand the import of the recent political changes in India, there is certainly something in the King's shooting expedition in Nepal which appeals to the love of sport common to most Englishmen. Ho who has made a, bag of tigers has but a poor opinion of any form of shooting practised in this country. To talk of the subject with an Indian forest official, or with any of those who have lived on the jungle's edge, is to bring forth a tale of experiences, personal and otherwise, which might well daunt even a Spanish toreador. A Keen Sportsman. Tho man who speaks truthfully of his first tiger hunt almost invariably confesses to having had a feeling of awe at tho sight of the beast; in many cases he owns to sickening, paralysing fear. The great ! cats seen in a, zoological garden give but a poor idea of tho animal as ho appears in his native haunts, but, though the first impressions may always be remembered with a thrill of dread, the fascination of the sport becomes overmastering. One English officer had over 300 tigers to his credit at tho time of his death. Long after his service days were over he remained in the wild places of tho East, refusing to come home to shiver over an English hearth, or to give up the game of the junglo for the driven pheasants of tho covert. His, of course, was a name to conjure with among tho shikaris, but there are many keen sportsmen who at the end of a life spent in India have not had the fortune to bag a single tiger, and there is a tragic story told of ono such case. On the eve of returning to England a veteran officer decided on a final effort, and having been warned by the shikari that, a fine animal was in the neighbourhood, set out with threo younger companions. When the beast appeared he took, as had been agreed, tho first shot, and wounded, but did not kill. In such an event it is usual to wait for at least an hour before going in pursuit, in order that tho infuriated creature may be found when growing stiff and weak from loss of blood, but tho veteran was on the verge of realising his ambition, and grew reckless. In 6pite of the prayers of the huntsmen he insisted on pushing on at tho end of half an hour. The tiger was presently located, but it had too much life left to give tho chanco of another shot. Springing past the rest of the party, it did its enemy to death, and then bounded away beforo any of the others had time to take aim. Prayers in the Jungle. It is, of course, only tho boldest who go on foot for a shooting expedition. The most common method is to wait in a machan, a kind of nest in a tree, and firo when tho animal is driven from its lair. The cost of these drives is not inconsiderable, and a good story is told of a sportsman who was once weak enough to accede to his wife's wish to see a real tiger shoot. When the critical moment was believed to bo at hand, tho lady began to doubt the safety of their position, and made loud and pious appeals for tho tiger to be kept away, and once again her wish was granted. For all time to come her husband's advice to his friends was:—"Don't take a praying woman with you if you want sport." Another case in which prayer was tried in far more dangerous circumstances is recorded by two Dutch missionaries. Tho younger of tho pair had been implored by the natives of the district to kill an animal which had been raiding their herds. His elder comrade was violently opposed to tho whole business, but seeing that the young man was set on doing what ho considered his duty, ho insisted on joining the expedition with no weapon but his staff.

When the tiger was discovered the man with the rifle'fired and missed, and the fierce acnimal was over his body in a moment. Then came the chance for the old man; fixing it with his eye, ho ordered it to depart, using words and tones which one might imagine suitable for an evil spirit. The exorcism was perfectly successful, and though bishops have been known to doubt the facts of tho case, it appears less incredible to those who know the tiger and its natural fear of tho human race.