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V12587.

RETURNING TO CAMP AFTER A DAY'S SHOOT, BEHAR JUNGLE.

The homeward march may be in silence, or broken by the personal experiences of the men who have joined in the hunt. In either case there is a strange majesty in the stately elephants, quite in contrast with the movements of some of them during the brief time when they were in the hunt. There is now no fear of a sudden spring from a tiger. No bridges are needed. The river may be in places too deep for oxen, but the great elephants can go in deep water-swimming if it grows too deep for them to wade.

In a small party there are only one or two guns, though when twenty or thirty elephants are taken there may be a half dozen. The fact that there are known to be so few has its advantages. There are no shots at random. The best marksmen attend to this work, and they know that they must aim at a vital part-if not the heart, the brain or back of the neck. Sometimes a visitor is given the honor of shooting. In his wonder or fright, or the natives say his stupidity, he allows the golden chance to slip. There is murmured dissatisfaction among the beaters at this result. They know that the beating must be done over.

The average age of the tiger is believed to be about twenty years. Though it is regarded as nocturnal, it does not always wait until night to take advantage of the bullock tied up as a bait. It will not touch any dead bait, so a live animal must be sacrificed by the hunter. The wounds from a tiger, even though not in themselves sufficient to prove fatal, often cause blood poisoning. Tigers are often cannibals with their young, and seldom does the mother join her mate in the jungle until her cubs are old enough to care for themselves. They make fine pets when small.