There was only one gun on board, belonging to the captain: the door being well secured, there was no danger, and an ornamental air-hole in the paddle-box enabled him to obtain a good view of the tiger, who was sitting upon one of the floats. A shot through the head settled the exciting incident; and the men who were knocked over being more frightened than hurt, the affair was wound up satisfactorily to all parties except the tiger.
The progress of science in the improvement of steam navigation has had a wonderful effect throughout the world during the past half century, and it is interesting to watch the development resulting from the increased facilities of steam traffic upon the Brahmaputra. Although a residence upon the islands is accompanied by extreme risk during the period of inundations, there are many villages established where formerly the tigers held undisturbed possession; and the rich alluvial soil is made to produce abundance, including large quantities of jute, which is transported by the steamers to Calcutta. The danger of an unexpected rise in the river is always provided for, and every village possesses two or more large boats, which are carefully protected from the sun by a roof of mats or thatch, to be in readiness for any sudden emergency.
When the natives first established themselves upon the islands and along the dangerous banks of the Brahmaputra, they suffered greatly from the depredations of the numerous tigers, and in self-defence they organised a system by which each village paid a subscription towards the employment of professional shikaris. These men soon reduced the numbers of the common enemy, by setting clever traps, with bows and arrows, the latter having a broad barbed head, precisely resembling the broad arrow that is well known as the Government mark throughout Great Britain. The destruction of tigers was so great in a few years that the Lieut.-Governor of Bengal found it necessary to reduce the reward from fifty rupees to twenty-five, and tiger-skins were periodically sold by auction at the Dhubri Kutcherry at from eight annas to one rupee each.
In this manner the development of agricultural industry brought into value the fertile soil, which had hitherto been neglected, and the wild beasts were the first to suffer, and eventually to disappear from the scene; precisely as indolent savage races must vanish before the inevitable advance of civilisation. and their neglected countries will be absorbed in the progressive extension of colonial enterprise.
I believe there are very few tigers to be found at the present time in the islands or "churs" of the Brahmaputra, and although I never had the good fortune to know the country when it was described to me as "crawling" with these animals, I look back with some pleasure to my visit in 1885, when through the kindness of Mr. G. P. Sanderson, the superintendent of the keddahs, I was supplied with the necessary elephants.
The Rajah of Moochtagacha, Soochikhan (or Suchi Khan), had started from Mymensing with thirty-five elephants, and he kindly invited me to join him for a few days before I should meet Mr. Sanderson at Rohumari, about 38 miles below Dhubri, on the Brahmaputra. I had a scratch pack of twelve elephants, including some that had been sent forward from the keddahs, and others kindly lent by the Ranee of Bijni. These raised our number into a formidable line, excepting one huge male with long tusks belonging to the Bijni Ranee, who was too savage to be trusted with other elephants in company. This brute, as is not uncommon, combined great ferocity with extreme nervousness. He had just destroyed the howdah, which was smashed to atoms, as the animal had taken fright at the crackling of flames when some one had ignited a patch of long grass in the immediate neighbourhood. This had established an immediate panic, and the elephant bolted at full speed, destroying the howdah utterly beneath the branches of a tree; fortunately there was no occupant, or he would certainly have been killed. The sound of fire is most trying to the nerves of elephants, but a good shooting animal should be trained especially to bear with it; otherwise it is exceedingly dangerous.
The Rajah's elephants were his peculiar enjoyment, and there was the same difference in their general appearance, when compared with the keddah elephants, as would be seen in a well-kept stable of hunters and a team of ordinary farm horses. At the same time it must be remembered that Suchi Khan's elephants did no work, but were kept solely for his amusement, while the keddah animals had been working hard in the Garo Hills for many months upon inferior food, engaged with their experienced superintendent Mr. Sanderson in catching wild elephants. Nevertheless there was a notable superiority in the Rajah's shikari animals, as they had been carefully trained to the sport of tiger-hunting; they marched with so easy a motion that a person could stand upright in the howdah, rifle in hand, without the necessity of holding the rail. They appeared to glide instead of swaying as they moved, and in that respect alone they exhibited immense superiority, the difficulty of shooting with a rifle from the back of an elephant in motion being extreme. Several of these elephants were so well trained that they showed no alarm when a tiger was on foot, at which time an elephant generally exhibits a tendency to nervousness, and cannot be kept motionless by his mahout.
A favourite shikar animal had been badly bitten by a tiger a few days before my arrival, and it was feared that she might become shy upon the next encounter. Although the elephant is enormous in weight and strength, the upper portion of the trunk is much exposed, as it is the favourite spot for the tiger's attack, where it can fix its teeth and claws, holding on with great tenacity. A wound on the trunk is most painful, and when an elephant is actually pulled down by a tiger, it is the pain to which the animal yields in falling upon the knees, more than the actual weight and strength of the tiger that produce the effect. A tiger, when standing upon its hind legs, would be able to reach about 8 feet without the effort of a spring; it may be readily imagined that a female elephant unprotected by tusks must certainly be injured should a tiger rush determinedly to the attack; nevertheless the female is generally preferred to the male for steadiness and docility. When a really trustworthy male elephant is obtainable, well grown, of large size, easy action, and in perfect training, it is simply invaluable, and there is no pleasure equal to such a mount; the sensation upon such an animal is too delightful, and you long for the opportunity to exhibit the power and prowess of your elephant, as the feeling of being invincible is intensely agreeable. The only sensation that can approach it is the fact of being mounted upon a most perfect hunter, that you can absolutely depend upon when following the hounds in England; an animal well up to a couple of stones more than your own weight, who never bores upon your hand, but keeps straight, and never makes a mistake; even that only faintly approaches the pleasure of a good day upon such an elephant as I have described.
Mahouts will always lie concerning the reputation of the animal in their charge, and I had been assured that the great male belonging to the Ranee of Bijni was the ideal character I coveted; but I discovered that his temper was so well known that the Rajah positively declined to expose his line of elephants to an attack, which he assured me would take place if the animal became excited; in which event some valuable elephant would suffer, as the long tusks of the Bijni elephant had not been blunted, or shortened by the saw. This splendid animal was accordingly condemned to the ignominious duty of conveying food to the camp, for the other elephants upon their return from their daily work. The neighbourhood of the Brahmaputra is rich in plantain groves, and for a trifling consideration the natives allow those trees which have already produced their crop to be cut down. A full-length stem will weigh about 80 lbs., therefore an elephant is quickly loaded, as the animal for the short distance to camp will carry 18 cwts. or more. The operation of loading a pad elephant with either boughs or plantain stems is very curious. Two men are necessary; one upon the ground hands the boughs, etc., to the man upon the animal's back, who lays the thin or extreme end of the branch across the pad, leaving the thick or heavy end outwards. He places one foot upon this to keep it from slipping off until he has placed the next bough across it upon the opposite side, arranged in a similar manner. In this way he continues to load the elephant, each time holding down with his foot a separate bough, until he has secured it by the weight of another, placed in the same position opposite. This plan enables him to build up a load like a small haystack, which is then secured by ropes, and almost hides the animal that carries it. My mighty beast was condemned to this useful but degrading employment, instead of being honoured by a place in the line of shikari's elephants, and we started into the valleys among the Garo Hills, led by a native who declared that he would introduce us to rhinoceros and buffaloes.
We started at 6 A.M., and marched about 14 miles, extending into line whenever we entered a broad valley of high grass, and slowly thrashing our way through it. In many of the swampy flats among the hills the reedy grass was quite 14 or 15 feet in height and as thick as the forefinger; so dense was this herbage, that when the elephants were in line you could only see the animals upon the immediate left and right, the others being completely hidden. It struck me that this system of beating was rather absurd, as there were no stops in the front, neither scouts on the flanks, therefore any animals that might be disturbed by the advance in line had every chance of escape without being observed. The grass was a vivid green, and occasionally a rush in front showed that some large animal had moved, but nothing could be seen. This was a wrong system of beating. I was second in the line of six guns, the Rajah Suchi Khan upon my left; we presently skirted the foot of a range of low forest-covered hills, and after a rush in the high reeds I observed a couple of sambur deer, including a stag, trotting up the hill through the open forest, all of which had been recently cleared by fire. A right and left shot from Suchi Khan produced no effect, but the incident proved that the system of beating was entirely wrong, as the game when disturbed could evidently steal away and escape unseen. Our right flank had now halted at about 400 yards' distance as a pivot, upon which the line was supposed to turn in order to beat out the swamp that was surrounded upon all sides by hills and jungles. Suddenly a shot was heard about 200 yards distant, then another, succeeded by several in slow succession in the same locality. I felt sure this was a buffalo, and, as the line halted for a few minutes, I counted every shot fired until I reached the number twenty-one. Before this independent firing was completed we continued our advance, wheeling round our extreme right, and driving the entire morass, moving game, but seeing absolutely nothing. Although the jungles had been burnt, the valley grass was a bright green, as the bottom formed a swamp; even at this season (April) the ground was splashy beneath the heavy weight of our advancing line. Having drawn a blank since we heard the shots, we now assembled at the spot, where we found a bull buffalo lying dead surrounded by the elephants and four guns. These had enjoyed the fusillade of twenty-one shots before they could extinguish the old bull, who had gallantly turned to bay instead of seeking safety in retreat. It was a glorious example of the inferiority of hollow Express bullets against thick-skinned animals. The buffalo was riddled, and many of the shots were in the right place, one of which behind the shoulder would have been certain death with a solid 650 grains hard bullet, from a .577 rifle with 6 drams of powder. The buffalo, finding himself surrounded by elephants, had simply stood upon the defensive, without himself attacking, but only facing about to confront his numerous enemies.