The hunters went on shore, and as they passed down the gangway they saw a couple of the crocodiles in the water. Louis put a bullet into the eye of one, and Mr. Woolridge served the other in the same way; but all of them thought saurians were mean game. Near the huts they found two men, and Sir Modava had a talk with them, which no one else could understand; but he employed them to guide the party and show them their traps. "The wife of one of these men was devoured by a crocodile a year ago, and the daughter of the other, a child of six, had been borne off by a tiger," he explained, as they proceeded after the two men. They soon came to the traps. The tigers were exceedingly numerous on all the islands formed by the cut-offs, and swam without difficulty from one to another. The first trap they saw was a broad trench, the bottom and sides armed with stakes of the hardest wood, sharpened to a wicked point. A roaring sound attracted the visitors to another of the same kind, in which a monstrous tiger was floundering about, trying to escape the points that pierced him. He was suffering fearfully; and Captain Ringgold shot him at once, though the Hindus were delighted by his torture. Another kind of trap was more ingenious. It was on the plan of the twitch-up snare, common in New England. A young tree, very strong and flexible, is bent down till the upper end touches the ground. To this extremity is attached a stout cord, and fastened to a stake in the ground. A slip-noose is so arranged that the tiger thrusts his head through it in order to reach the meat with which the cord holding the tree is baited. As the animal pulls the cord he casts off the line holding the tree in its bent position. The slip-noose is tightened around his neck, the tree flies up into the air, carrying the tiger with it. Everything about the trap is made very strong, and there the savage marauder hangs till he chokes to death. [Illustration: Captain Ringgold brought down another--Page 349] The party moved on, and they had not gone ten rods before a cobra elevated his head. Felix claimed the right to fire first, and he killed him with one ball. A large python was Scott's first prize; and, after a long walk, they came to a nest of tigers, as it seemed, for there were not less than five of them drinking at a brook. It appeared to be the only place in the vicinity where fresh water could be obtained. The first of the tigers was killed by Louis with a single shot, for he put the ball through the eye of the beast. Captain Ringgold brought down another with three shots from his repeating rifle. Felix did not care for tigers; he was looking for snakes, and they came to the brook to drink. In a couple of hours he had half a dozen of his favorite game. He declared that he was following the blessed example of St. Patrick, and if he did not die too soon he would rid the world of all the snakes in it.