The next day , Tobin and l took the noon train to Darjeeling . Tobin took his Fabrique Nationale .423 calibre Mauser bolt rifle and 50 RWS 347 grain solid metal covered cartridges . I took my trusty 12 Bore Belgian double barreled side by side shot gun and 40 rounds of 2.5 inch Eley Grand Prix Lethal Ball cartridges , along with 1 dozen rounds of 2.75 inch Eley Alphamax Triple A cartridges and 1 dozen rounds of 2.75 inch Eley Alphamax # 6 cartridges. After we landed in Darjeeling, the very 1st thing which we did was to make our way to the forest department’s office to collect our licenses as verification that we were actually authorized to hunt down the man eating royal Bengal tiger .
After that , we headed to Sundar Raj Shikar Limited and conversed with Ajay Abhijeet Raj , the elder son of Mr. Sundar Raj . We wanted to get a more clear idea of exactly what had happened to Rongon Daas’s client . Abhijeet had gotten his information from the Garo tracker who had accompanied Rongon Daas and his client to the shikar for the royal Bengal tiger . The Garo tracker’s account of events was as follows :
They had been following the tracks of the brute for 6 hours when they came across the royal Bengal tiger feeding upon a sambhur deer which it had hunted . The client took aim at the royal Bengal tiger and fired at it’s head , at a distance of less than 30 yards . Upon receiving the shot , the brute charged at Rongon , the tracker and the client . Rongon pushed the client to the ground and fled the area as fast as his legs could carry him , while the royal Bengal tiger began to devour the unfortunate client . The tracker escaped the forest on his own and made his way back to Sundar Raj Shikar Limited .
“ Where is the client’s rifle ? “ Tobin asked Abhijeet . Abhijeet opened a cabinet and took out the client’s rifle for us to examine . It was a pre 64 Winchester Model 70 bolt rifle. True enough , it was chambered in .220 Swift. Abhijeet took out a box full of 48 grain soft point cartridges from the cabinet as well , which had been recovered from the corpse of the client . I took 1 of the cartridges in the palm of my hand , and examined it curiously . I asked Abhijeet , “ Now , why would anyone look at a cartridge like this , and think that it is a good idea to use 1 on a royal Bengal tiger ? “ . Abhijeet explained that this American client was a very prominent fire arms writer in his own country and that he was testing a theory . The client had a theory that a light weight bullet driven at extremely high velocities with pin point accuracy , was capable of slaying even the largest of beasts with a shot placed in the vital organs. He had specifically come to Darjeeling to test this theory out on a royal Bengal tiger .
Unfortunately ... his attempt to test out this theory not only cost him his life , but it also unleashed a man eater upon the citizens of Darjeeling and Siliguri .
Hearing this , Tobin said “ Why can’t these bloody gun writers test their little theories on something that can’t bite back ?! The .220 Swift is for prairie dogs and wood chucks . Not the king of cats . “
Below , is a photograph taken from the internet of a .220 Swift cartridge . Tell me 1 thing , dear readers. Exactly how much cocaine or heroine would someone have to consume to look at a cartridge like this , and rationalize that it is an adequate choice for a royal Bengal tiger weighing 500 pounds ?
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Abhijeet then presented us with Rongon Daas’s police statement of the way the events had transpired that day according to him . Rongon’s account of events was as follows :
When the royal Bengal tiger had charged at the client , Rongon had fired 2 shots at it with his Indian Ordinance Factories .315 calibre bolt rifle , which had certainly hit the brute , but failed to stop it from reaching the client . It then mauled the client to death while Rongon fired 2 more shots at it , which drove the injured royal Bengal tiger away from the client’s corpse .
So , there we had it : 2 very different contradictory accounts of what had happened that day . I should add , however that when the Darjeeling police were called to the scene of the incident to recover the client's corpse ... they found no empty .315 calibre cartridge cases whatsoever .
Personally ( and l know that Kawshik will probably not take kindly to me speaking ill of his dearly deceased friend , but he will also forgive me for being brutally honest . ) , l never really liked Rongon Daas 1 bit. Rongon had no experience with hunting anything more dangerous than a sambhur deer ever in his life , but he had used his family connections to become Sundar Raj Shikar Limited's head shikaree . He was what an American gentleman may refer to , as an " ass kisser " of clients who always sang praises about clients in front of them , while he really should have been advising them about what to do and what not to do in the shikar field . Rongon's approach to the profession was , " Buy a cheap gun and a few cartridges and practice shooting at a few bottles. Walk behind the client and pump him full of flattering comments . Get him close enough to the animal and the client will do all of the shooting . Then pump the client with a little bit more flattering and collect all the generous tips . "
It goes without saying that l was vehemently opposed to Rongon's views . Being a professional shikaree was no laughing matter. It was serious business . It was imperative that each of us possess the skills , proper armaments and experience to protect our client at all costs , while they were under our charge. These clients were our responsibility and if need be , it was our obligation to put ourselves directly between the client and the brute , should a wounded dangerous animal charge towards the client . We chose this life and the responsibility that came with it . Even before 1965 , l always knew that someday Rongon would get into an immense amount of trouble for being unable to protect other members of the shikar party and it had finally happened. In fact , the biggest incident which made Kawshik a celebrity among the professional shikarees of West Bengal ( stopping a charging 500 pound royal Bengal tiger from reaching his client , by killing it with 2 SG buck shot cartridges in 1964 . ) would NEVER have occurred in the 1st place ... had Rongon not abandoned the shikar party that day and left Kawshik and the client to fend for themselves . However , that story is Kawshik's to tell and not mine .
But enough talking about Rongon Daas . Tobin and I had a grave task at hand , under the direct orders from Mr . Vidya C Shukla himself . We had to track down a vicious man eating royal Bengal tiger and put an end to it's killing spree.
In the next portion of this story , l shall relate the actual shikar for the vicious man eater .
