lutely necessary, although it may seem unsportsmanlike, as the jungle is so impenetrably thick that it is the only way to bring the game to bay. The nets, of which many are used, are made of halfinch rope of cocoanut fibre, with a nineinch mesh, and are each about forty feet long by twelve feet in width. They are used in two different ways; one is to surround the tiger with them at night, and the other is to place them in a line and drive him into it, as he will then try to break through, and so entangle himself that he is easily speared by the natives. The only castes who take part in this sport are the "Oopligas," who use spears with handles about eight feet in length, with blades three inches wide and twelve long. It is a very curious thing that tigers never attempt to jump over these nets, which they very easily could do; panthers have often been known to jump over. When the tiger has been safely netted in, he is kept there for two or three days, and often shot through the meshes without a chance being given him to try and regain his freedom. The nets are held up by forked sticks inclining towards the interior, and the end near the ground is well pegged down and logs of wood turned inside it, the remainder being turned up so that for four feet above the ground the netting is doubled. He is driven into a cul-de-sac formed of this netting, and the end is then quickly closed, forming a circle of about three hundred yards in diameter; then all underwood is cleared around it in a belt of about ten or fifteen feet in width. After this parties with choppers enter the enclosure and cut two paths crossing each other, so that by watching these the exact locality into which "Stripes" has moved can be easily ascertained. This cutting of paths inside an enclosure, with an enraged animal wandering about, very hungry perhaps, and furious at being caged in, would appear to those who do not know his nature to be foolhardy, and inviting certain death to some, at any rate; but as long as the men keep well together, a tiger will not charge upon them. Should he have received a wound, it is very difficult to persuade the natives to venture inside. The Maharajah had given orders for a cow to be tethered not far from the old "kill," to provide the tiger with a new attraction in the shape of fresh beef; and, sure enough, after four days of patient

waiting, news was brought that at last he was really safely enclosed, and all preparations made for some certain sport. So we again drove out, the day after receiving the tidings, with guns and rifles, eager for the prey.

On reaching the nets we found all activity and bustle; crowds of ryots were at work perfecting the enclosure, armed with their long broad spears. The nets had been erected by a small pond surrounded with beautiful trees and foliage, intersected with the bamboo and palm. The villagers had kept large fires burning, but in spite of these the tiger had charged the nets several times during the night, trying to break through. The whole arrangement this time was under the care and direction of the Maharajah's brotherin-law, and he had been up the whole night long keeping the men up to their work. The bush inside was very dense, and it was impossible to see through in any direction for more than two or three paces. The tiger was now keeping very quiet, and no sign was seen or heard of him. The mecháns were five in number, built on each side of the pond, and it was proposed now to open the nets on that side for the tiger to pass out and take his chance for freedom, running the gauntlet of our fire; of course he would have to cross the pond, which was only a few feet deep at the most, and which he could easily clear in a few bounds. We all took our places and prepared a warm reception for him. On the first stand were the Maharajah and Lord Claud Hamilton; on the second, the Dewan or Chief Minister of State of Mysore, who had only just that minute arrived, and myself; on the third, Mr. Charrington; on the fourth, on the left side, facing the opening, Mr. Meiklejohn and Dr. Benson; on the fifth, Mr. Vinicomb Davey and Mr. McHutchin.

Suddenly, with a loud rush, a rocket was discharged by the Master of the Horse into the bush; then an awful row was started all round, with tomtoms and cholera-horns; shots in plenty were fired with matchlocks. But "Stripes" took not the slightest notice of all this and remained immovable; rocket after rocket was sent into every nook and corner, but without any result, and as the time was drawing near for our return journey we were again expecting a blank day; and our surmises proved quite correct. We began to fear that the tiger only

existed in the imagination of the natives, and they had enclosed only the bush, and reported his night charges simply to give us hope.

However, after a few more ineffectual attempts we had to give it up, and hope for better things on the morrow. The next day saw us really started in time, and we reached the nets a little after mid-day, and this time we were firmly determined to enter the enclosure on foot and beard the tiger in his den," should he again prove obdurate to all other persuasion. The mecháns were much improved by the addition of screens of branches and bamboo, and the netting had been carried on from the opening, forming a broad road across the pond with its swampy banks, and at the same time preventing the tiger from attacking the mecháns. As before, large fires had been kept burning the whole night, and again several charges against the netting had been made, and the ryots said they could easily have speared him several times; but of course they had strict injunctions to the contrary. We walked all round the netting, but could not get a glimpse of the tiger anywhere. We were just on our way to the mecháns, when a wild screaming and yelling took place on the side opposite the opening; we all rushed round, and just got a glimpse of the brute as he disappeared again into the thick cover; he had again made one of his charges to try for freedom. The Maharajah now decided to reduce the cover inside the enclosure, and about fifty men were ordered in with billhooks and hatchets for that purpose; but many of them shirked this, as the tiger was by this time getting very hungry, having been enclosed without the tempting bait of the cow that was tethered for him, and, of course, no food was placed inside the enclosure for him. We, in the mean time, sat down to a light breakfast of green cocoanuts and fresh figs.

Many of the wives and daughters of the men who were inside chopping away were surrounding the netting, some calling to encourage them and some to caution them against being too foolhardy and rash. Once there was a tremendous panic inside, and all of them came flying back, tumbling over each other pell-mell, and taking no notice whatever of the Master of the Horse, thinking the tiger was after them. It was most comical to see them

trying to get over or under the netting in the most frantic hurry. This, of course, had all been made fast and secure by being very firmly held down by logs of wood, etc., and in their hurry they became quite blind in their endeavors to get through. Some had an arm or a leg through, others their heads, and all wriggled like so many eels in a similar position. One or two tried to climb over, but the netting collapsed with them, and covered them in a tangle of ropes. Their comrades outside the netting meanwhile were greatly delighted, and thought it great fun pushing them back everywhere when attempting to get out, and adding to their fright as much as possible, reminding one of the beasts in a menagerie being stirred up with a long pole. Of course it was anything but a pleasant position to be in for these nearly naked natives, had the tiger charged them, since they had only a billhook as an arm of defence and a simple loin - cloth as their only covering. After a while, finding it had been only a false alarm, they quieted down a little, and were persuaded to go on with their work of reducing the bush inside. After sufficient of this had been done, the encircling nets were reduced to that amount in circumference, and we were all summoned to take our places, as on the day before, on the mecháns. The natives took up their positions, and we assumed the most comfortable attitude, with our rifles at hand ready, as we might now at any moment get a shot, there being every reason to believe the brute would soon leave the cover. Again the Master of the Horse sent a number of rockets into the bushes, the cholerahorns and tomtoms going on with renewed energy all the time, while now and then there was a discharge from a matchlock. The tiger now began to feel really uncomfortable, and uttered short savage cries and roars, and kept wandering from one part of the cover to the other, all the while grumbling to himself. Suddenly we thought the time for a shot had come. Inside the net where the opening had been made was a small clearing of about twenty yards in diameter, and she-for we could now see that it was a tigress-advanced to the centre of it, lashing her sides furiously with her tail, and marching up and down. She evidently mistrusted the open too much to risk a sortie. Then with a most graceful bound she cleared quite twenty-five feet, and en

and think it such as no true sportsman ought ever to allow himself to be associated with; but in defence of this tiger netting I must say that unless done in this way, it must be left altogether alone. The jungle in this part of Mysore abounds with large bushes, each covering many yards of ground, and with the most pertinacious of thorns, through which no human being, unless he wriggled himself flat on the ground, could possibly pass. In Bengal and Nepaul, as I said before,

tigers are hunted with elephants, but the country there is open, and covered only with grass six or eight feet high, and no trees. In this part of Mysore an elephant with his howdah could not possibly pass amongst these low trees, which scarcely allow room in some parts for even a man to walk upright; and for this reason beating for them is almost always unsuccessful, as it always gives the tiger a chance, of which he is not slow to avail himself, of sneaking out of the way.

So