of stone,
evidently straining all his senses to discover the tiger, after which he
made a terrific charge up to the edge of the scrub, where he pulled up and
again snorted, and shook his head. If ever a bison meant business he did,
and could he have seen the tiger he would have certainly tried to kill it,
but it was hiding in the scrub and was invisible to him, though we could
just make out its golden red skin.

"The sight of the infuriated bull within a few yards was altogether too
much for the tiger, which now turned and commenced to sneak off with
astonishing rapidity, keeping completely out of the bison's sight, and
looking like the most abject wretch imaginable. My goudas became frantic
at this, and seeing that there was now no chance of a fight between the
bull and the tiger, I rushed along the hill with the view of trying to get
a good shot at the latter, but this I found would be impossible, so I
rested my rifle on a stamp, and, as he moved through the scrub, took a
long shot, which knocked him off his legs, and we saw him partly roll and
partly scramble into the dense jungle below. A shout of 'The bull is
going,' from the goudas, made me look back, and just as he was starting I
hastily fired my second barrel into his shoulder and dropped him dead. We
then went to look for the tiger, but, most unfortunately, the rain, which
up to this time had kept off, descended in torrents, and the whole country
became enveloped in dense mist. We found the spot where the tiger had been
knocked over, and the goudas soon discovered cut hair (by the bullet), a
sure proof of a hit. We could see where he had rolled down, the slope to
the thick forest, crushing the ferns, and tearing up the ground with his
struggles, but the blood was of course washed away by the tropical rain
torrents. Within the forest, which was almost impenetrable, all was dark
as night, and as no track could be seen, and we were soon all drenched to
the skin, it was impossible to do anything more, and I was compelled to
give up the pursuit. Why the tiger, after getting so close to the bison
did not attack, it is impossible to say, but the men who accompanied me
were of opinion that, owing to the bison being partly hidden by the
scrub, the tiger could not gauge its size till quite close to it, and then
was afraid to attack such a large bull."

I think that their surmise is correct, and as I have before suggested, I
think that these very large bulls are but rarel