Evening Star Newspaper, October 12, 1930, Page 106

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGT ON, D. C, OCTOBER 12, 1930. Man Against Beast in the Indian Jungle The Thrills and Danger of Big-Game Hunt- ing in the Heart of India—Experiences With Tigers, Elephants and Panthers. 7 he Crocodile Hunt. EDITOR’S NOTE: Lseut. Comdr. Kenworthy is one of the wmost interesting and picturesque figures in English public life. Mem- ber of Parliament, heir to the ninth Baron Strabolgi, retired officer and . one-time boxing champion of the Royal English Navy, he has dwided his time between distinguished service to his country and an en- thusiastic devotion to sports. His article describes in vivid detasl some of hss most interesting and exciting experiences in stalking the wild beasts. BY LIEUT. COMDR. J. M. KENWORTHY, R. N, M. P. HE height of hospitality in India is to arrange a shikar, or shoot, for one’s guests; and if it is for the purpose of hunting large and dangerous game, the hospitality is considered all the During my recent visit to India, time of accepting many invitations, out solely for the shooting, daytime, ing ven across an open space by very elaborately beating. Indian sportsmen regard the former as justified only by the necessity of ide of a dangerous beast Txlflger-shootm'hlchlpufldpoudm from elephants, and the following is a pald account of one of the most interesting pnd exciting episodes I have ever witnessed: Wishing to see something of life in the fgreat Indian self-gverning states, I accepted pn invitation to visit Alwar, in Rajputana, ruler is one of the most renowned en in India, and whose jungles—thick, wild, and_ hilly—are famous for their sporting ppportunities. As soon, therefore, as I had fpompleted the investigations I had come for, Wwe ‘moved into camp at the foot of the Biger-hills. The camp itself was big enough o lodge a small army and, indeed, there were about two hundred soldiers there to jmssist. These young men were to act as beaters. Every other man carried his rifle, with ball “walk up” a wounded or obstinate , and the charging would be against the riflemen on their backs. We soon settled down in camp to await the Feports of the shikaris. These are the pro- Their duty is to watch spaces. wide, those open stretches pal yards the foothills up to the top of the They enable tigers to be jungle area to another, so close fleld of fire as they a&éigg i £ marked down at long distance male and a female, in a patch Preparations were immediately e. time for conducting the drive be in the early afternoon, and it was arranged that the whole party should rendez- ous and commence operations at about 2 ®'clock, The soldiers who were to act as beaters marched off, shouting with excitement; the ghikaris started out with their leader; and fifteen elephants, each with his mahqut L ggggi remain absolutely steady and not to bolt even when charged by an infuriated tiger—and the pad-elephants, intended to assist in walking up a wounded tiger, if necessary, in the thick jungle, and carrying three or four 'HE soldier-beaters next took up their position, lining the sides of the mountain about a mile away from where the tigers had last been seen. The best two tiger-elephants, on one of which was my host and on the other myself, picked their way like goats over the boulders and rough ground into the middle of the rade. As sooin as we were in position, one single note on a bugle announced the of the drive, and in complete silence circumstances. ropria signal is given, the breaks out into loud shouts, which excitement of the shoot. - were not after such humble game let him go. Next two magnificent sambhur, largest type of Indian deer, appeared, glanced around, and dashed across the open At any moment now the tigers might appear, but luck was against us and nothing happened. It looked as though sport was over for the day, and sorrowfully we gave up for the afternoon, consoling ourselves by sampling the excellent contents of the tea basket carried on one of the two fine panthers, a male and a female, not a bit alarmed by the distant movements on the road below. ‘The hillside was well wooded, but very rough, rifle ready, took quick aim and fired, hitting in the body, but rather low down. He his startled mate were off before there another chance of a shot, but we marked where they had gone and sent three elephants up the mountain, supported by the small party of soldiers who had first seen the panthers. Shikaris were dispatched in the other direction to act as “stops” .and prevent them breaking away, and all we could do was to walt until we got news. This was not long in coming. The Indian lieutenant of the soldiers sent word down to say that the panther I had hit was lying wounded about twenty yards from him. This meant walking the animal up on foot, and the Maharaja and myself, with our rifles, left the motor car and scrambled up the mountainside until we came to the place in- dicated, In the excitement, I had forgotten my field glasses, but in the dim light of the thick jungle, on the other side of the little nullah, we could see the tail and hindquarters of the panther lying quite still in a small cave under a bank. I felt sure I could make out his shoulder—the most vulnerable spot—and al- dead, up lightning, into the thicket again. WHAT had happened was that his shoulder They dragged the maddened creature to the bank—kicking, struggling and snapping. we espied him under a growling, carefully in a certain patch of very thick jungle. The same arrangements as before were made, and my host and myself occupied howdahs on the same two elephants. I had two rifles. My host was armed with a double 354 The beat commenced silently, as on the previous day, but at a signal given by the head shikari, the whole line broke into a pandomonium of shouts and yells, rattles, gongs and whistles, which must have frightened every jungle creature for miles round. This went on for about five minutes; then, at another signal, there was dead silence once more. : The next thing that happened was that I heard a terrific bellow, which I thought at first came from my elephant. Then that wonderful beast gave a lurch and I saw that sheering off into the thickets at the last moment. Catching a glimpse of him through a thin bush, I fired the right barrel of my 400 at his shoulder, hitting him, as we discovered afterward, two inches low. The tiger whipped round in a flash and leapt back into the jungle, but not before I had given him the left barrel of my rifle and my host had fired both barrels of his .354. The Indian gentleman who was with me in my howdah quickly handed me my other rifle and before “Stripes” disappeared I just had time to give him one shot from the .320 through his backbone. That made five shots from powerful rifles, all of which had hit him in what should have been fatel places; but the last we saw of him he was bounding swiftly back into the jungle. This meant that he must now be walked up with the elephants. They were rapidly mustered and proceeded to force their way through al- most impenetrable forest to where we thought we should find our quarry. We advanced with caution, for a wounded tiger will charge right home, leap onto the elephant and even into the howdah. But this time there was no charge. We found the tiger as dead as a doornail lying in a little clump of bamboos. Yet he had run 50 yards with five heavy bullets in him before falling. “Sitting up” for a tiger or panther is in- variably done at night. If a tiger has killed a bullock, he will eat part that night and re- turn the following evening to complete the meal. A rough platform, or machan, is con structed in the nearest tree, and the shot obtained when the animal comes back for meal. In known haunts, it is often possible get a shot by tying up a bullock or goat waiting for the beast of prey to stalk tethered decoy, shooting it either when ‘approaching or after it has killed and is its meal. Some of the machans are permanent, and built of stones in the form of a tower, but the it sushes, with a light suspended over the tethered - eating, the electric light—if it is electric—may be gradually increased until a shot under ideal conditions can be taken. Tfllumotmeuhnotuutdydcvdwadh the cat tribe, but their hearing is ful. The slightest stir, cough or whisper panther or tiger is frightened The beast’s method creep took a special delight in nosing out the pan- ther's whereabouts, barking him awake, cleverly dodging his rushes and helping to impel him toward the concealed rifieman. him fair behind the shoulders. He turned & somersault and crashed into a thicket. He was obviously hard hit, but not through either the head or the heart, and had still plenty of fight left in him. Our friend, the panther-dog, very soon nosed out where he was and stood barking above where the big cat lay at bay. Descending from the tree. I made a circuit, climbed to some high ground above where he was lying and, before he could charge, finished him off th a third and final bullet.