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The sudden apparition of the tiger before it was expected would probably startle the gunner, who by firing in a hurry would in many instances entail a miss. Having well considered the matter, I determined to make myself more comfortable on the morrow, by padding the mucharn with the quilted pad of the riding elephant, and by sitting astride a tightly bound bundle of mats.
From either flank, commencing only 50 yards from each mucharn, a native should be posted in a tree, and this system of watchers should be continued until they meet the extreme ends of the right and left flanks of the beating line.
A large, firm, and roomy mucharn fixed upon the boughs of a tree that will not wave before a gust of wind, is the proper platform to ensure a successful shot.
The mucharn which fell to my share was that upon the right flank when facing the beat; this was in the open glade opposite a projecting corner of the jungle.
It now has to be driven before the beaters, and it should be induced to select a particular direction that will bring it within distance of one particular mucharn.
We took our places, and I was assured by the shikaris that the tiger would probably break covert exactly in my front. It is most uncomfortable for a European to remain squatted in a mucharn for any length of time; the limbs become stiffened, and the cramped position renders good shooting anything but certain.
We had been driving jungle for sambur deer in the Balaghat district, and instead of posting myself upon a mucharn, or occupying any fixed position, I remained upon my elephant Hurri Ram.
In order to prepare these platforms, they should be laid upon the ground, three long thick pieces to form a triangle, and cross-bars in proportionate lengths. If the latter are straight and strong, from sixteen to twenty will be necessary to complete a strong mucharn. It is impossible to devote too much attention to the construction of these watching-places.
On moonlight nights a patient watch is kept by the vigilant Indian hunter, who squats upon a mucharn among the boughs within 10 yards of the water-hole, and from this point of vantage he shoots every animal in succession, as the thirst driven beasts are forced to the fatal post.
We entered the jungle, and presently descended the face of a small hill; then crossing a nullah, I was introduced to my mucharn; this was arranged upon a large tree which grew exactly upon the margin, and commanded not only the deep nullah beneath, but two other smaller nullahs which it met at right angles only a few paces distant.
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