DEATH OF A GUN-BEARER
HUNTING ADVENTURES IN INDIA

Death of a Gun-Bearer

Near Tanda my usual good fortune took a turn, and I lost one of my gun-bearers by a sad accident. About 10 A.M. Dhokul came in, having left some of his men on sentry over a very large tiger, which he had come upon suddenly, that morning. I was not long in turning out, and, on arriving near the spot, we arranged the plan of attack. I was accompanied by Lieutenant MacTier, who had joined me that morning from Sirdarpore. The only tree which we could find in any way suited as a position was one standing near the head of a slope some fifty yards in length. This tree had, at about eight feet from the ground, strong shoots growing from the stem. On these I took my stand, accompanied by my gun-bearer, named Foorsut. At the foot of the slope a dry nullah crossed from left to right, and beyond it was a level jungle thinly covered with trees and bushes. The tiger was to be driven from our left down the nullah. Having seen me to my place, Dhokul went off to bring on the beat, and soon after the tiger came trotting down on the far side of the nullah. Unfortunately, my shot struck him too far back, and, turning sharp to the left, he went off at a great pace, while I fired my remaining three shots at random in the hope of doing further damage. Seeing the tiger go off, I did not at once reload, intending to do so when I descended to follow him up on the elephant. Suddenly a man on a tree cried out that the tiger was coming back, and, on looking up, I saw him coming towards us at a sharp trot. On reaching the nullah, he crossed it, and slowly ascending the hill, stood immediately below our tree. With a breech-loading rifle I might have shot him ten times over, and possibly, as he was coming on, I might have reloaded that which I had, but I knew that any movement on our part would probably make him charge, and we were too near the ground to make such a contingency desirable. All might have yet gone well had the man kept quiet. In an evil moment he spoke, saying that the tiger was below us. The beast looked up, caught sight of us, and at once sprang up the tree. Getting a momentary hold for his claws on the trunk, he seized Foorsut by the waistband with his teeth and dragged him down, and as he fell, bit him three times through the back of the thigh, inflicting twelve deep wounds. I shouted loudly, and hurled my hunting-cap at the tiger, on which he slunk off and went down the hill. Presently the men came up, and we made a litter of boughs and sent the wounded man off to the camp, where he was attended to by the native apothecary, who always accompanied my office. I mounted the elephant along with Mr. MacTier, and we presently came on the tiger, at which I fired, and on going up found him dead. I believe he had died from the first shot. He was a full-grown male, very large and heavy. The wounded man progressed favorably, and the bone of the leg seemed uninjured. He was doing well on the following day; but on the morning of the second we observed a slight twitching of the points of the fingers. Towards 3 P.M. he fell off suddenly, and by 4 he was dead. Condensed from Wild Man and Wild Beasts; Scenes in Camp and Jungle, by Lt. -Col. Gordon Cumming. - "Library of Travel and Adventure," edited by Bayard Taylor. Hunting in India - Wild bulls Hunting in India - Tiger-hunting at night Hunting in India - Hunting the boar Hunting in India - Bitten by a bear Hunting in India - Tiger-hunting with elephants Hunting in India - The cow-killers killed Hunting in India - Death of a gun-bearer Eastern turbans Hunters paradise in China