The Art Of Hunting The Royal Bengal Tiger: A Comprehensive Guide

[Major Khan]

Sir, I am extremely interested in your reply. The information you provide is greatly appreciated.

The photograph is of my Grandfather, John Forrest Easton, who was the manager and overseer of rubber growing and refining operations at Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) for Goodyear in the early 1930s. My mother was born in Colombo in June of 1931, her birth certificate and (dual) citizenship papers signed by Llewellen Thompson. By 1934 they had been transferred to Singapore where they lived until their Japanese neighbors became rather aggressive in 1940.

You wrote:
"The gentleman on the right is holding a 12 Bore Geco brand side by side double barreled shot gun with the single trigger . The cartridges on his waist belt are Eley 2.5 inch Lethal Ball cartridges ."

Are you certain of this information? All I have known before is that the affair held by the gent to Granddad's right (left in photo) is a big son of a ----. I'm well acquainted with the M1910 of Granddad's as I own it, but all I have that may be related to that monstrous double barreled affair is a large round lead ball in the MS's case that may have come from it.

You would likely be interested in the family photo albums. I intend to digitize their contents as time permits. One of my favorites is a great image of Granddad having shown the proper cricket playing Brits how to play American baseball. It shows the grinning players at Singapore's 'Swiss Club' having finished a game and brandishing baseball equipment (with cricket bats visibly laid aside) while gathered around a keg of beer as their society matron wives show disdain in a distinctly "that simply isn't cricket" sort of way.

Geco brand side by side shot guns used to be extremely popular imported items in Sri Lanka in the pre World War 2 era . A Geco brand side by side hammerless shot gun with a single trigger would look identical to that , with 32 inch long barrels. The continental shot guns were always more durable for handling things like ball cartridges or letter shot , than British game guns . The cartridges in the gentleman's waist belt are unmistakably Eley Grand Prix 2.5 inch Lethal Ball cartridges . In the context , it actually makes sense , Mr. Rothhammer . Eley Grand Prix Lethal Ball cartridges were specifically designed by Lyon & Lyon in Kolkata to be used against charging wounded panthers ( which you Western gentlemen will refer to , as " leopard " .)
From the looks of things , your grand father successfully took the panther out with his 1st bullet . If God forbid , he only wounded the panther and it retreated into the thickets , then the double barrelled shot gun would be used for pursuing the wounded brute into the thickets . The gentleman on the right side of the photograph , is no doubt , a professional shikaree who would be assigned to deal with the wounded panther , should it charge the shikar party. Personally , l would prefer a double trigger weapon , over a single selective trigger weapon ( so that l could instantly give the panther the 2nd barrel if need be ) . However , based on barrel length , l am willing to bet that the shot gun was a wild fowl gun , fully choked in both barrels , which the operator was using with Eley Grand Prix Lethal Ball cartridges to serve as a " charge stopper " in a pinch.

Can you weigh the lead ball and tell me if it weighs more or less than 1 ounce ?

It would be my privilege to see your family album. Such photographs always remind me of my youth and the good old days . 1 of my most favorite things about African Hunting Forums , is that l unexpectedly find many familiar faces on these forums . I suppose that our international hunting community is far more tightly knit than l had originally thought it to be.

 

[Newboomer]

Thank you so much for being such an understanding friend , Bob. I was initially extremely hesitant to write the entry about human corpses being used as bait for man eating royal Bengal tigers , due to the grisly and graphical nature of the topic . The part about sexually deviant coolies certainly did not make things any easier. However , l figured that rather than give all of you gentlemen the condensed version of my article , l should give you all the entire true , unabridged information about how man eating royal Bengal tigers were baited in India in the 1960s. You are 100 % correct. We are not politically correct people , not should we be . We need about history the way things were actually done and not the way we WISH things should have been done.

Major Khan, It is history, it happened and cannot be changed. I applaud your honesty in telling it as it happened without skewing the truth.

 

[DieJager]

Thank you for an honest and great adventure!

 

[Major Khan]

Major Khan, It is history, it happened and cannot be changed. I applaud your honesty in telling it as it happened without skewing the truth.

Thank you so much for being so understanding , New Boomer . I would hate to write edited versions of the way things actually happened in those days. If so , it would be quite dishonest of me .

 

[Major Khan]

Thank you for an honest and great adventure!

Thank you so much , my Dutch friend . I am glad that you have enjoyed it.

 

[friendswoodmatt]

Major Kahn, perhaps I missed it and I apologize if I did, but why did one the man put the Goats on a kitchen table when baiting the Royal Bengal Tigers? Thank you for sharing-- I only recently found your posts and am now diligently working my way through them.

 

[Major Khan]

Major Kahn, perhaps I missed it and I apologize if I did, but why did one the man put the Goats on a kitchen table when baiting the Royal Bengal Tigers? Thank you for sharing-- I only recently found your posts and am now diligently working my way through them.

Thank you so much for enjoying my writings , Friends Wood Matt .
Please allow me to explain the strategy utilized by the gentleman , to you in a little bit of detail . The gentleman in question was the father of fellow forum member and Australian friend , @Timbo , who used to live in India prior to 1960 and often hunted royal Bengal tigers . Timbo's father would use a 12 Bore Winchester Model 12 pump shot gun , with a 2.75 inch chamber and an improved cylinder choke for hunting royal Bengal tigers . This shot gun's tubular magazine was loaded alternatively with 2.75 inch Eley Alphamax LG cartridges ( which held 8 pellets to the cartridge ) and 2.75 inch Eley Alphamax rifled slug cartridges ( which held a 1 ounce foster style slugs ) .
Timbo's father would lash a goat to the top of a kitchen table and then erect a makeshift macchan on top of a tree ... where he would wait with the shot gun ( which used to have a pencil torch light clamped to the fore end ) . The goat's bleating would attract the royal Bengal tiger . When the royal Bengal tiger would arrive ... the goat's bleating would cease . This would alert Timbo's father about the presence of the royal Bengal tiger . The brute would attempt to reach the goat , by placing it's fore paws upon the table .
Timbo's father would then would then give the royal Bengal tiger a charge of LG in the area where the neck meets the shoulder . If this failed to kill the royal Bengal tiger , then the gentleman would simply pump the shot gun again and fire a rifled foster slug at the brute .
Normally , you cannot expect an LG cartridge ( or buck shot of ANY size ) to penetrate in to a royal Bengal tiger's vital organs .
However , when a royal Bengal tiger's fore paws are raised up .... then, there is a great reduction of tension in the muscles of the royal Bengal tiger in the area where the neck meets the shoulder . During this time ( while the brute's fore paws were being raised up ) , Timbo's father would fire the contents of an LG cartridge in to the area of the royal Bengal tiger where the neck meets the shoulder . When the brute's fore paws are raised ... this becomes the weakest point of the royal Bengal tiger . 8 pellets of English LG to this area would kill the royal Bengal tiger .

While this worked extremely effectively ... LG cartridges were useless on a royal Bengal tiger for ANY OTHER shot .
Timbo's father possessed a great deal of anatomical knowledge of a royal Bengal tiger's weak points in order to exploit this . He specifically place the goat in the MIDDLE of the kitchen table , so that the royal Bengal tiger would raise it's paws up and relax it's shoulder muscles .
This trick was taught to me by Allwyn Cooper Limited's head professional shikaree , the great Rao Naidu of Hyderabad in 1962 , when I was just starting out in Allwyn Cooper Limited as a Junior professional shikaree , who often would get assigned on beat duty when guiding clients for royal Bengal tiger shikars.

 

[Timbo]

Thank you so much for enjoying my writings , Friends Wood Matt .
Please allow me to explain the strategy utilized by the gentleman , to you in a little bit of detail . The gentleman in question was the father of fellow forum member and Australian friend , @Timbo ,

Thank you for honouring my father's memory, Major.

 

[Brian Rothhammer]

The gun bearer on the left looks extremely familiar , Mr. Rothhammer.
He looks like a younger version of a Sri Lankan gun bearer we used to know named Boomako in the early 1960s . Was this photograph by any chance taken in Sri Lanka ?
Your grand father sounds like quite the shikaree. I would have loved to have met him . The .375 Nitro Express , utilizing a 270 grain soft point bullet ( from the German company , RWS ) is an excellent little tool for leopards and royal Bengal tigers .
The gentleman on the right is holding a 12 Bore Geco brand side by side double barreled shot gun with the single trigger . The cartridges on his waist belt are Eley 2.5 inch Lethal Ball cartridges . Presumably , this shot gun would be used for following up wounded leopards into the thickets.

Major Khan Sir;
Here are some quick low - resolution (300dpi) scans of snapshots from one of the grandparent's photo albums that I think you may find to be of interest. Someday I'll scan them at higher resolution and crop them better along with entire contents of the albums.

First, a contemporary clipping from the Wingfoot to entertain the folks back home at Goodyear HQ in Akron:

This one appears to be the same parties as in the 'leopard photo' along with a bearer. Front and captioned back of photo:

Italic text beneath following images will be captions exactly as written on backs of photos by John Forest Easton, presumably in 1932.

Brothers Anthonisz at Nana Oya
January 1932

Trekking to Kumana
George Anthonisz firing
Jan 22 1932

Anthonisz & Vanniah
Mudaliyar of Pottuvil
Jan 26 1932

My Buffalo
Maha Wewa Tank
Jan 20 1932

Here's George Anthonisz with Granddad's M1910 Mannlicher Schoenauer Takedown. Caption below:

My first deer on way to Kumana
Jan 24

'Carter' Lebbe (Moor)
Leopard
Podi Singho (Sinhalese)
Jan 25 1932

Our 8' leopard
a beautiful specimen
Jan 24 1932

Tracker Sinhalese
Maha Wewa Tank
Jan 20 1932

This one (per caption) seems to be from a previous adventure:

A recent shooting trip in the jungle and lakes
Nov 1931


Enjoy!

 

[Brian Rothhammer]

Just for fun, here's an image from a pre - WW2 National Geographic magazine:

The caption used in the July, 1940 issue read, The pigtailed lass is the daughter of an American who buys rubber here for Goodyear".

The 'pigtailed lass' was my mother.
When the Nat Geo writers were looking for things and places of interest in Singapore to flesh out their article about "war jitters", the Brits told them there were a few Americans over at the Swiss Club and to go ask them.

The photographers got to talking to my mother, then nine years old, and her younger brother, who told them of wonderful things at the open marketplaces. Permission from the parents and off they went.

 

[Major Khan]

Major Khan Sir;
Here are some quick low - resolution (300dpi) scans of snapshots from one of the grandparent's photo albums that I think you may find to be of interest. Someday I'll scan them at higher resolution and crop them better along with entire contents of the albums.

First, a contemporary clipping from the Wingfoot to entertain the folks back home at Goodyear HQ in Akron:

This one appears to be the same parties as in the 'leopard photo' along with a bearer. Front and captioned back of photo:

Italic text beneath following images will be captions exactly as written on backs of photos by John Forest Easton, presumably in 1932.

Brothers Anthonisz at Nana Oya
January 1932

Trekking to Kumana
George Anthonisz firing
Jan 22 1932

Anthonisz & Vanniah
Mudaliyar of Pottuvil
Jan 26 1932

My Buffalo
Maha Wewa Tank
Jan 20 1932

Here's George Anthonisz with Granddad's M1910 Mannlicher Schoenauer Takedown. Caption below:

My first deer on way to Kumana
Jan 24

'Carter' Lebbe (Moor)
Leopard
Podi Singho (Sinhalese)
Jan 25 1932

Our 8' leopard
a beautiful specimen
Jan 24 1932

Tracker Sinhalese
Maha Wewa Tank
Jan 20 1932

This one (per caption) seems to be from a previous adventure:

A recent shooting trip in the jungle and lakes
Nov 1931


Enjoy!

I recognize all of those game animals , Mr. Rothhammer . I have shot all of them myself ... As well .
They are :
Water buffalo

Cheetal deer

Forest Panther

Village Panther

Thank you so much for showing me these beautiful photographs . I believe that your grand father and I would have made extremely close friends , Mr. Rothhammer . He seems like my kind of person . A passionate shikaree and a seeker for adventure .

 

[Nyati]

Thank you for the article, Major, and for telling all the story.

By the way, Lebeau Courally, you do have good taste in guns !

 

[Sam Kunal]

Very sad to see such beautiful guns being destroyed..
Regarding the trolls who humiliated Mr.Rahman , I think that these chaps are fake hunters . I bet they would wet their pants by mere sight of a Royal Bengal Tiger. If they really were hunters , they would have asked for guidance from Mr. Rahman. Highly experienced people of the good old days are hard to come by. One should respect them.

 

[Brian Rothhammer]

Thank you so much for showing me these beautiful photographs . I believe that your grand father and I would have made extremely close friends , Mr. Rothhammer . He seems like my kind of person . A passionate shikaree and a seeker for adventure .

Thank you (on his behalf and mine) for the kind words. I was very fond of Mr. Easton.

He also knew how and where to properly hang one's pith helmet!

The sola topi succumbed to the ravages of time decades ago.

The Easton home at Colombo. It was called 'Olympus' on Flower Road.

 

[Major Khan]

Thank you for the article, Major, and for telling all the story.

By the way, Lebeau Courally, you do have good taste in guns !

It is my utmost privilege ... that you have enjoyed this article of mine so much , Nyati . Why ... You admire Lebeau Courally ( The Belgian gun makers ) , as well ?!

I absolutely LOVE their old world craftsmanship . To own a Lebeau Courally side by side double barreled rifle some day , chambered in .476 Westley Richards calibre ... is a distant dream of mine .

 

[Major Khan]

Very sad to see such beautiful guns being destroyed..
Regarding the trolls who humiliated Mr.Rahman , I think that these chaps are fake hunters . I bet they would wet their pants by mere sight of a Royal Bengal Tiger. If they really were hunters , they would have asked for guidance from Mr. Rahman. Highly experienced people of the good old days are hard to come by. One should respect them.

It is extremely sad , indeed ... Kunal Beta .This is exactly the sort of thing ... Which you and I were discussing , yesterday .
Not only did these sort of lunatics ban all hunting in India , without any sort of true logic ( Other than satisfying an irrational public agenda ) ... But they now spend all of their free time attacking people ( Who are publicly critical of , and opposed to India's shikar ban ) on the internet .
They simply cannot let anyone publicly Express their views ... If they do not like those views . If anyone shares any experiences that reinforces their views ... Then these people will simply label them as " Liars " and pretend as if these things in history had never occurred . They are in denial . Their actions are the very definition of the word , " Petty " .

No shikaree can ever rival Kawshik's level of talent . He dispatched 2 fully grown male royal Bengal tigers ( 1 of them , being a man eater ) ... With 12 Bore SG ( 12 copper plated Pellet ) cartridges . And he recorded it , with a colored photograph .

 

[Sam Kunal]

It is extremely sad , indeed ... Kunal Beta .This is exactly the sort of thing ... Which you and I were discussing , yesterday .
Not only did these sort of lunatics ban all hunting in India , without any sort of true logic ( Other than satisfying an irrational public agenda ) ... But they now spend all of their free time attacking people ( Who are publicly critical of , and opposed to India's shikar ban ) on the internet .
They simply cannot let anyone publicly Express their views ... If they do not like those views . If anyone shares any experiences that reinforces their views ... Then these people will simply label them as " Liars " and pretend as if these things in history had never occurred . They are in denial . Their actions are the very definition of the word , " Petty " .

No shikaree can ever rival Kawshik's level of talent . He dispatched 2 fully grown male royal Bengal tigers ( 1 of them , being a man eater ) ... With 12 Bore SG ( 12 copper plated Pellet ) cartridges . And he recorded it , with a colored photograph .
View attachment 347857

The world is getting filled with these lunatics..Some of them post rubbish comments on meat cutting, hunting videos. Why don't they just stay away from these videos ? Everyone has their own way of life and no one has the right to interfere in it..
The hunting of full grown tigers that too with SG cartridges speaks volume of the calibre and talent of Mr.Rahman..

 

[Brian Rothhammer]

Ridgewalker
Yes vegemite is an acquired taste, my wife loves it on toast with a soft poached eggs.
Thanks for remembering my post mate.
At my age I have discovered shoes with memory foam inserts, great invention I can remember what I went into a room for now. Ha ha ha. Cheers mate Bob

Mom liked Bovril.

If you like _very_ comfortable shoes, try Vans slip ons with _'Comfy Cush'_ soles.

I don't see the Comfy Cush option on the Vans.com.au 'site but have recently purchased (another) pair here in the U.S..

 

[tigris115]

If you ever want, I'd love to proof read and edit this with you. Maybe get it made into a small book