into the wild ➳ luke hemmings

१

The cool summer wind whisked against my cheeks, as I stepped into the balcony of the forest house, taking in the scenic view before my eyes. The deep-purple sky enveloped the thick vegetation, that looked like a dark layer of moss under the dim light of the crescent moon, that shone along with a billion stars above me. The distant sound of the river flowing nearby, rutting herbivores, the faint screech of owls every now and then all added to the cacophony that arose from within the jungle.

And if it weren't for the situation in hand, the ambience most certainly would be reposeful.

Despite the seemingly pacific aura, there was peril lurking beneath the shadows. The said peril appeared in the form of a nine foot, two-fifty kilo Royal Bengal tiger, that had been terrorising the division of Kumaon, Uttarakhand for quite some time, now.

The locals dubbed her as "the Champawat Tiger," and she was the very reason why I was summoned by the Government, itself to the outskirts of Tanakpur, a newly formed city located in the Champawat district of Uttarakhand.

Gateway to the Kumaon Himalayas, Tanakpur happened to be one of the most picturesque cities in British India. Unfortunately, it also happened to be the place where the tigress was last seen.

Although I wasn't one to empathise with people, the incident was very compelling. I recalled the Tehsildar, Mr. Kunwar's narration of the occurrence, that took place just the night before.

It took place in the tiny village situated along the Sharda river, a little away from Tanakpur. It was the hottest month of the year, and yet the villagers slept with their doors and windows shut. The man-eating tigress was allegedly spotted in a nearby village, a few kilometres away, and nobody wanted to risk being her next meal.

Despite of residing in thatched huts, they lit fires in the streets outside their homes to keep the beast away. Everybody kept knives, axes, and sticks ready, taking every possible precaution against a potential attack.

All except one family of four, who left a window open, possibly by mistake. They were all fast asleep, the father by the window, the mother on the other side, and the children in between. It was a little before dawn, when the wall came crashing down upon them, along with the crushing weight of a full grown Bengal tiger, that grasped hold of the mother by her thigh, sinking her teeth into the woman's flesh.

The lady yelped in agony, whilst the rest of the family, confused at the suddenness, and taken by sheer terror, froze at the sight. The father panicked, trying to haul his wife back from the animal's grip by her hand, but much to his horror, the tiger heaved her tiny frame through the broken wall and disappeared into the night.

It was all over in a matter of a few minutes, and the father was left behind, embracing his kids, all three of them shuddering in fear.

It took him a few more minutes to register what had just happened, before he could call for help. By the next hour, the entire village was wide awake, crowding around the victim's family, holding sticks, and torches.

With the break of dawn, commenced a search party for the woman -- or rather, what was left of her. It only took them a couple of hours to find her corpse, that was reduced to nothing but bones.

That's when I received the message from the authorities, agreeing to the two conditions I had set forth, when they had first asked for my help to hunt down the infamous tigress of Champawat.

The two conditions? One, take the bounty off the tiger's head.
Two, call off the army, and the other hunters who are in pursuit of the tiger.
Firstly, putting a bounty on the tigress' head seemed a little insensitive, both to the animal and to the victims and their families. Moreover, the sum attracted more, and more hunters — even potential victims.
Secondly, having a lot of hunters around risked the chances of me getting shot, accidentally. Moreover, the hunters could easily mistake a totally different tiger for the man-eater, which would lead to killing of several tigers, in vain.

I had anticipated way before it arrived, and had been discreetly following the story. I had retired early from the British Indian army, to become a naturalist, and it had been slightly over a year since I had been traversing around India, studying