CHAPTER SIX: KENNETH ANDERSON

Among the renowned hunter-narrators of the post-Independence period in India

Kenneth Anderson (1910-1974) was among the foremost. Born in 1910 in Bangalore, he

wrote many books on his adventures in the jungles of South India. He also worked with

the railways and took part in shooting adventures. Kenneth Anderson hailed from a

Scottish family settled in India for six generations. His father (Douglas Stewart

Anderson) was superintendent of the F.C.M.A. in Poona and dealt with the salaries paid

to military personnel, having an honorary rank of captain. His father also had a rifle and

often hunted for waterfowl. Even though his father was not a hunter of man eating

carnivores, he was the person who had the most influence on Anderson's decision to

become a hunter. Anderson did his schooling from Bishop Cotton Boys' School and

studied in St. Joseph's College, Bangalore. He was employed by the British Aircraft

Factory in Bangalore (HAL Later) in the rank of factory manager for planning. He had a

son, Donald Anderson (1937-) who was also an avid hunter. The books written by

Anderson are:

 Nine Maneaters and One Rogue (1954)

 Man Eaters and Jungle Killers (1957)
 The Black Panther of Sivanipalli and Other Adventures of the Indian
Jungle (1959)
 The Call of the Man Eater (1963)
 This is the Jungle (1964)
 Tiger Roars (1967)
 Tales from the Indian Jungle (1970)

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  Jungles Long Ago (1976)

In addition to the themes of adventure and survival, Anderson also expounds on

his love for India, its people, and its jungles. He was a firm believer in the power of

alternative medicine and always carried a box containing various kinds of natural herbs

from the jungle with him. He refused treatments based on western medicine and died of

cancer at the age of 64 in August 1974. His last book, Jungles Long Ago, was published

posthumously. Some of his most notable kills include the Sloth bear of Mysore, the

Leopard of Gummalapur, the Leopard of the Yellagiri Hills, the Tigress of Jowlagiri, the

Tiger of Segur and the Tiger of Mundachipallam. He is officially recorded as having shot

8 man-eating leopards (seven males and one female) and seven tigers (five males and two

females) on the government records from 1939 to 1966 though he is rumored to have

unofficially shot over 18-20 man eating panthers and over 15-20 man eating tigers. He

also shot a few rogue elephants. Unlike Jim Corbett, who hunted in North India—from

the foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivaliks, Garhwal, Kumaon to Northern Madhya

Pradesh—Anderson hunted in the South India—Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Karnataka,

Northern Malabar and (Kerala) (then Madras Presidency, Mysore State and Hyderabad

Principality). He had a dog Nipper, a mongrel acquired on one of his hunting trips. His

style of writing is unassuming, descriptive and engaging as he talks about his adventures

with many wild animals. According to A.K. Merhotra: “His descriptions of animal

behaviour are excellent, the drama of woodland life being of keen interest to him.”423

While most of his stories are about hunting tigers and panthers (or leopards) particularly

                                                            
423
A.K. Mehrotra, An Illustrated History of Indian Literature in English (New Delhi: Orient Blackswan,
2005), p. 355

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those that were man-eaters he also includes chapters on his first-hand encounters with

dangerous elephants, bison, and bears. There are also stories about the less ‘popular’

creatures like Indian wild dogs, hyenas, and snakes. He takes pains to explain the habits

and personalities of these animals. Anderson also gives valuable insights into the people

of the Indian jungles of his time, with their lush green woods teeming with wildlife and

local inhabitants having to contend with poor quality roads, communication and health

facilities. His books delve into the habits of the jungle tribes, their survival tactics, and

their day-to-day lives. Besides focusing on Indian wildlife, he also explores the subject of

the occult and writes about his live experiences with unusual phenomena (for which he

has no explanation). He helped save the jungle dwelling tribes from the horrors of man-

eaters in many villages in the south Indian states. He also was well versed in speaking

Kannada, the language of his home town Bangalore, and also spoke Tamil, the language

spoken in the neighboring states to some extent. He had a Studebaker car and usually

used a .405 Winchester Model 1895 rifle for hunting. In addition to his reputation as a

hunter, he was a pioneer of wildlife conservation in southern India, and spent his later

years "shooting" with a camera.

233
  

Figure 11: Kenneth Anderson with a Man-Eater

(www.africahunting.com/hunting-pictures-videos)

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 Anderson’s hunting grounds lay in the Deccan especially in south India. His foray

into writing began in the late ‘40s and soon caught up with the avid readers of this genre.

In the introduction to the stories of man-eating tigers, Anderson gives in detail “stories of

the denizens of the forest; tales of incidents, macabre and ghostly sketches of himself.”424

In ‘Ghooming at Dawn’, Anderson narrates his experiences in the jungle in the fashion of

Corbett’s Jungle Lore. The jungle is spread along the river Cauvery .The local tribal

shikari Byra acts as his guide. After taking the reader through the jungle and introducing

him to the sights and sounds of it, Anderson comes to the topic of shooting man-eaters.

In ‘The Bellundur Ogre’ of Tales from Indian Jungles Anderson narrates one of

the most horrible incidents of man-eaters. In Bellundur, near Tagarthy in Mysore, an

ordinary tiger turned into a menace. A necromancer provided with charms and talismans

to “tie up” the jungle and even Anderson decided to appease the gods with the offerings

of live chicken and country liquor to perform some rites in order to bag the tiger. The

patience of the Indian villagers was put to test by this cattle-lifting tiger and they decided

to dig a rectangular pit camouflaging it with twigs and leaves. It was customary for them

to spear the trapped tiger cruelly from above. When the villagers hurt the tiger with two

blunt spears, the tiger sprang up to the mouth of the pit and on his ‘path to freedom’ the

tiger’s hind paws touched lightly the skin at the back of the man’s neck. Anderson

observes: “The man fell where he had been standing but he was quite alive. The whole of

his scalp, removed neatly from the bone, now hung over his face. It took three days for

                                                            
424
Kenneth Anderson, The Kenneth Anderson Omnibus, Vol I ( New Delhi: Rupa, 2000; rpt 2003) p. 4

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this man to die, for to the very last moment he lived in the hope that his scalp could be

put back.”425

When a railway officer Johnson failed to relieve the villagers from the man-eater,

the fear of the ‘ogre’ spread more rapidly. Lack of supply of men and cattle increased the

man-eater’s range and the villagers were even afraid to leave their huts at night. Then

Anderson was asked by his doctor friend at Tagarthy to help him kill the tiger. When

Anderson failed to shoot it from a ‘machan’ the tiger snatched a man from his hut. There

began a chilling trail of a man-eater where Anderson and Stanley, both armed and

stalking the tiger, stood back to back for it to come. The tiger proved to be very cunning

and in a curious case of wrong shooting both shot at it and missed not knowing that they

made each other their target. Anderson tried his luck again by digging a hole and standing

inside it, but he did not have a suitable shot as the tigress saw him and warned the tiger.

Back in the village a harrowing tale and a dreadful sight were awaiting Anderson.

That night the friend of the victim and his wife along with the victim’s wife huddled

inside the hut to sleep. Modesty forbade the wife of the victim to lie down near the couple

and she was compelled to sleep as far away as possible. The man-eater while passing the

sensed her presence near the wall of the hut and decided to drag her out through a small

opening. Her screams and yells combined with the couple’s shouts did not deter the man-

eater from successfully dragging the woman’s head and neck outside the hut, thereby

killing her by tearing her gullet. In the commotion her body was wedged against the

bamboo wall. Anderson and Stanley decided to hide in each hut to deal with the man-

eater and its companion. They removed the remains of the earlier victim to ensure the
                                                            
425
Ibid., p.22

236
tiger’s return. At four o’clock they began their long vigil of fourteen hours till dawn.

After ten o’clock at night the cold, stiff leg of the dead woman started moving forward. In

the eerie silence panic seized Anderson as he could not see anything in the dark.

Anderson stretched his hand and it touched the hairy paw of the tiger. Then

pandemonium broke loose as the man-eater sensed the presence of a living body inside

the hut. He managed to shoot the angry tiger with three bullets while it tore open the

bamboo wall. Stanley put an end to the other tiger finishing the horror story.426

In ‘The Aristocrat of Amligola’ Anderson narrates the story of another

magnificent tiger of “colossal proportions”. The tiger was initially not afraid of men and

lifted cattle not from a herd but from houses. One afternoon Anderson decided to have a

look at it and stalked it inside the jungle. When he met the tiger with a blazing torch it

started walking straight towards him in a strange manner. He observes: “No ordinary

tiger would have done that. He advanced upon me slowly, inexorably, determinedly, a

guttural grunt issuing from his slightly opened mouth, as he came, no signs of or of fear

upon his striped visage.”427 On two occasions the aristocrat let him go unharmed. Later,

his village-friend Ramiah made the mistake of almost blinding the tiger with slug-shots.

Anderson was informed immediately that the man-eater had become a scourge. In his

night vigil, Anderson sat on a ‘machan’ with the left-over from the man-eater’s latest

victim’s body and was able to shoot both the tiger and a panther which came to steal from

the tiger’s meal. In the end Anderson observes unjustly: “The Gowndnorai (the

                                                            
426
Ibid., pp.17-61
427
Ibid., pp. 66-67

237
‘Aristocrat’) was perhaps the largest tiger I have ever shot; and surely the most

cowardly.”428

‘The Assassin of Diguvametta’ has a sensational title. It actually depicts the

onslaughts of a panther that roamed between the jungles extending from the outer signal

of the Diguvametta station to a long tunnel in the valley below. Aleem Khan at the forest

bungalow was his friend. Aleem was a muslim and had two wives. Together they served

him cool water and cooked good food. Anderson also enjoyed the privileges of belonging

to the ruling class. Anderson became philosophical as he explained why he loved India

the most. “Where in the world would time be of so little, if any consequence as in India?

Where in the world would consequences themselves be of so little importance? It matters

not how you dress, or whether you dress at all? The bare requirements of existence are all

that do matter.”429 But trouble began soon as the caretaker informed him that the District

Forest Officer was passing through Diguvametta and as Anderson did not have any

written permission he might have to spend the night at any other place. Anderson takes a

dig here at the forest officials too. He flattered the range officer and he complained about

the senior officers coming on a tour. The range officer complained that the DFOs did not

work at all when they came, and that he and his subordinates did all the work. According

to him these visits were only a pretext for collecting the travelling allowance when they

were short of money. Anderson also was aghast at the presence of authority wherever he

went on a shoot. He purchased many pieces of land for camping in order to be able to

watch wildlife in peace even after independence. Similarly he purchased a small piece of

land at Diguvametta from a friend of the range officer. That evening a large panther took
                                                            
428
Ibid., p. 86
429
Ibid., p. 92

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Aleem’s dog from outside the forest bungalow where Anderson was taking his dinner.

Though Anderson chased the dog he could not kill it as his rifle was not fitted with a

torch. Next evening Anderson paid courtesy visit to the DFO. He comments: “As much

as I dislike government officials, one has to keep in touch with them in India if one wants

to move about freely.” 430 By then Aleem had informed the young officer about the

panther and he invited Anderson to shoot it. Anderson found that the young officer had

no first-hand knowledge about the jungle fauna and had exaggerated notions about it.

After much flattery the officer insisted Anderson to occupy the forest rest house with him

even though he had no written permission to do so. Though Anderson tried to take an

aim at the panther the following night using a dog as bait, it did not turn up. Aleem wrote

to Anderson a week later that a railway ganger had been killed by a wild beast. A month

later he urged him to come and shoot the panther at once as it took the life of another

ganger and its pugmarks have been found beside the body. As the next afternoon Aleem’s

telegram informing that his sister’s daughter has been taken, reached Anderson, he could

not sit idly any more. Long ago a British officer’s dog named Mischief was taken by a

panther and he made a tombstone in his memory. The small girl, hearing the story made a

habit of offering its soul flowers everyday. The panther took her when she went to the

tombstone one evening. Aleem offered to act as bait while Anderson would take his aim

from the bungalow. Hearing Aleem’s scheme Anderson himself became the bait sitting

on the tombstone dressed in Aleem’s dirty Indian clothes. But his scheme failed as he

wrongly reflected his torch against a huge scorpion. Then at midnight two goods train

halted to see a crumpled human body lying beside the track and the stationmaster came to

tell Anderson about it. The body belonged to a Chenchu tribesman. Anderson then
                                                            
430
Ibid., pp. 92-93

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planned to sit on the tunnel over the remains of the body. He asked the train driver to ask

the police officer to issue orders barring anyone from coming to the track. The two

o’clock train brought Aleem back with all the things needed for night-stay. After much

deliberation he decided to sit on the top of the tunnel with Aleem and had some cover of

oliage. At night the panther came from their behind just as a light engine chugged along

the tunnel. As they could not hear anything they saw the panther as it sprang upon them

expecting only one man. As it charged they rolled and rolled over firing at point blank

range at the face of the tiger. The panther fell on the track below. The driver of the

midnight down passenger gave a lift to the two men along with the dead panther to

Diguvametta. 431

In ‘The Strange Case of the Gerhetti Leopard’ Anderson once again starts with his

troubles with the administrative staff of the forest department. As usual Anderson needed

the required permits to stay in the forest department’s guest house. He applied for it and

got it in advance. He proudly declared that rules were meant to be broken. He reached the

Gerhetti lodge only to find it locked. He entered through the bathroom door. But the

caretaker filed a case of theft against him. The DFO was Anderson’s old foe and

Anderson had to engage his local friends to find out the stolen goods from neighbouring

villages. But he could not get the DFO punished for defamation as he retired.432 The

leopard at Gerhetti took a merchant’s donkey. Thereby the man attacked the leopard with

his stave. He did not find enough time to save himself when the leopard attacked him and

clawed his chest fiercely. Hearing his screams Anderson ran to his rescue but the

unfortunate man died of bleeding as he carried him to the forest lodge. Nothing happened
                                                            
431
Ibid., pp. 110-117
432
Ibid., pp. 158-164

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for many months. Then the epidemic of cholera struck the neighbouring villages and

some corpses were thrown in the jungle by the poor villagers. How did the leopard turn

into a man-eater was a mystery but a boy who went to fetch water was taken some

months later. The third victim of the leopard was a woman who was returning from a

well after bathing her two-year old child. Strangely the leopard did not touch the child

and his wails attracted people to the place. Woodcutting and other activities in the jungle

came to a standstill. Even the poachers did not dare to move freely in the forest.

Anderson issued an alarm through the Patel of the village appealing to the villagers not to

go by the jungle path as the leopard has boldly taken its victims in broad daylight. On the

day before Anderson arrived the leopard took his fourth victim in the early hours of the

morning and the victim turned out to be the son of the care-taker of the forest guest house

who lost his job following his theft of the bathtub and the armchair for which he framed

Anderson. He became a contractor of minor forest produces. His son helped him in

collecting those. Nataraj the young man went to collect honey from Periyamalai, and

collected three kerosene tins full of honey. He heard that wild elephants from the ravine

of the river Cauvery had reached the valley and did not want to risk his honey to them.

He decided to spend the night in the open garage of the forest lodge. In the early hours

his screams for help reached the villagers but nobody came to his rescue out of fear. The

leopard ate his whole body except his legs, arms and head. The police came to investigate

and the inspector left two timid constables to guard the remains of his body. They were

reluctant and Anderson’s words were enough for them to stay in the village. After

deliberating for a while Anderson decided to entice the leopard to come in his direction.

He stayed inside the garage with the remains of Nataraj’s body in his full view. The

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vultures came but did not touch the remains. Waiting for the man-eater Anderson dozed

off at night when suddenly his sixth sense warned him that something terrible was going

to happen. He jumped up and lit his torch to find the leopard launching its attack. He

sprang backwards and fired three shots to kill the leopard. The inspector came next

morning to find that the last remains of Nataraj’s body were taken away by hyenas and

jackals. 433

Dick Bird the postmaster at Santaveri was a friend and fellow tiger hunter. He

asked Anderson if he had heard of a large tiger at Kemangundi, a place between

Laulbagh and Santaveri. Anderson replied: “I used to operate a lot in Salem district, but

have had to extend my wanderings to the Nilgirisand into Andhra state. Tigers are still

plentiful there.”434 This large cattle-lifter turned out to be the Lakkavalli man-eater in

Anderson’s story. While purchasing stamp paper Anderson learnt from the chief engineer

of the Lakkavalli dam project that the news of man-eater had appeared in the newspaper

three days ago. He invited Anderson to his quarters to shoot the tiger. The tiger used to

take a fat cow and charge at the herdsmen if they chased it. A plucky young man charged

it with a stave and the tiger killed and ate him before taking off with the large cow. In

another area it killed two herdsmen when they chased it, and significantly it devoured the

body of the men and spurned the carcass of the cow. Things came to a head when the

tiger instead of attacking the cows took a young boy in front of his old father when they

were fleeing in fear. Herdsmen appealed to the chief engineer who could not do anything

as he did not possess a gun. The work on the dam came to a halt as the labourers refused

to come on foot or by bi-cycle. The senior staff also suffered as the daily supply did not
                                                            
433
Ibid., pp. 174-184
434
Ibid., p. 187

242
come to Lakkavalli. Anderson obliged and received a letter from Dick Bird that the tiger

had devoured his postman and though he tried to sit over his remains they were not found

except his slippers and the mailbag. Anderson did not shoot a tiger when it crossed a

stream in front of their jeep. When they reached the chief engineer’s bungalow he heard

that the tiger had taken a coolie in the afternoon the day before. Anderson along with the

chief engineer and three coolies traced the blood trail of the coolie to another forest range

travelling miles on foot from the top of the under-construction dam where the tiger took

the last coolie after following four of them for a while. As the trail died when the tiger

walked a long distance Anderson could not find it. After meeting the D.F.O., the ranger

of that area Anderson learnt that the tiger might have taken shelter in a dilapidated old

temple called the Munneswara temple inside the jungle. Anderson tried to call out the

tiger by imitating a tiger’s moan but was disappointed to find that it was not there. Later,

back in the bungalow, they were informed by a Lambadi herdsman that a tiger was seen

sunning itself on a ridge just a mile ahead of the abandoned temple. Asking his

companion to take refuge on a tall tree, Anderson followed the jungle path silently. At the

last moment the man-eater could sense him and charged at him violently. Anderson fired

two shots into its head and two more behind its shoulders before it fell dead. Anderson

had feasts at the bungalow and had dreams of tigers running out of temples all through

the night. 435

In the story ‘What The Thunderstorm Brought’ Anderson narrates the plight of his

son Donald when an elephant attacked him while he was perched on the top of a tree in

the hope of filming a tiger at meal at night. At first Anderson declares that he would not

                                                            
435
Ibid., pp. 185-205

243
tell his readers to which jungle they went for photographing wildlife. He complains that

some enthusiasts had gone to the places whose name he had written in his books. For

tigers, panthers and bears had become very scarce in south India. He blames the heavy

shooting by the influx of foreigners in India, shooting with the help of spotlights and

jeeps and most importantly the use of insecticides to kill tigers rampantly by farmers for

the decimation of tiger population in India. The results have so disastrous that,

particularly in Mysore state, tigers, panthers, hyenas, and even jackals and to some extent

vultures have been practically wiped out by the misuse of this chemical. Anderson and

his son Donald went to their camp to shoot with a camera. Two buffalo calves were tied

in two dry watercourses nearby as bait. One panther and one tiger were known to operate

in the area. In the night Donald went to sit on the machan already prepared. He was

unarmed. As night continued a heavy thunderstorm began. Meanwhile a tiger killed its

bait and started eating when a bull elephant came on this way and challenged it. The tiger

refused to leave and both of them were roaring when suddenly the elephant noticed

Donald’s tarpaulin sheet flying overhead. It charged at him madly and after two

consecutive dashes fell the tree on which he was sitting. In a moment pandemonium

broke loose and he started to shout on top of his voice. Hearing the elephant’s scream and

Donald’s yelling Anderson and his local shikari came running towards them with lanterns

in hand. The elephant went back after they shouted together. It could have been fatal if

the elephant attacked Donald and Anderson gives the first-hand account of Donald

also.436

                                                            
436
Ibid., pp. 206-229

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 In ‘The Marauder of Kempekarai’, the first story of Man-Eaters and Jungle

Killers (1957) Anderson gives another account of a dangerous man-eater who destroyed

many lives before falling down from a bullet from Anderson’s rifle. Kempkarai was a

small hamlet situated on the lower slopes of the western range. The valley is flushed with

the water from the Chinar and the Cauvery. The man-eater of Kempkarai had his first

victim in an old priest who was travelling through the jungle. His next was a woman

whose body was devoured by the hungry tiger except her head and limbs. The small

village became a fortress, nobody came in and nobody went outside. Even the people did

not go out at night to relieve themselves. A man named Mara, who was the son-in-law of

Anderson’s hunter friend Byra refused to live in such insanitary conditions. For two

nights he went outside and nothing happened. The next night when he did not return after

a while his wife raised an alarm. Hearing her cries for help, the frightened villagers

bolted their door tightly and she cried through the night. Byra walked eighteen miles

alone in the tiger territory to take his friend Ranga with him to meet Anderson in

Bangalore. He came back along with Anderson but they were in a dilemma as how to

proceed. The local people were of no help. They would have to offer human bait but

Anderson got two bullocks. Anderson started his night vigil near the well from where the

woman was taken. As the moon delayed in rising he was at a great risk as he was exposed

to the jungle from three sides. According to him, he spent one of his worst nights in the

jungle that night fearing an attack every time a nocturnal creature moved near him. When

day broke in the jungle they found that of the two bullocks the brown one was partly

eaten by the tiger. Though he left the white one after inspecting him twice. Anderson

prepared for sitting on a tree with the remains of the bullock. His friends made the

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machan with his folding chair to sit in. when the moon rose, he suddenly became aware

of the presence of the tiger under his tree. He was rubbing his body against the trunk of

the tree and in doing so found him out. Then he started to growl ferociously and climbed

up to grab Anderson. As he was sure that this was the man-eater otherwise it would have

bolted away, he drew his legs up as high as possible while trying to take a shot. After

stretching for about seven feet the tiger could climb no longer and fell backwards. As the

tiger ran away he found three five inches long claw marks on his leg. To get treatment he

went back to his camp, walking through the jungle. He gave himself two shots of

penicillin injection for the fear of sepsis.437

As his wounds made him incapable of sitting for a long time, they made an

ingenious plan. They detached a cartwheel and placed on the top of a hole inside which

Anderson sat on a streambed frequented by the tiger. The wheel was secured from both

sides with boulders and a human dummy was made and placed near the boulders to

attract the tiger. He at length describes the Indian bullock cart and how it is operated.

They laboured from 8 a. m. in the morning till noon. At 4.30 h entered his voluntary

prison. The weight of the boulders made it very heavy to push the cart wheel away alone.

The first visitor was a sambar stag who got alarmed at the sight of the dummy. At night a

bear came to inspect the scene and started clearing away the boulders. Anderson tried to

shoo him away but he was persistent in his work. Hearing Anderson’s voice the bear

looked through the cart wheel into his eyes. After repeated attempts the bear ran away.

After a while came the tiger. Unlike the bear the tiger came straight towards Anderson

and that too from behind him. He was not prepared and he could not use his rifle towards

                                                            
437
Ibid., pp. 250-254

246
his back. The tiger found him and with a snarl tried hard to claw Anderson sitting on the

top of the fallen wheel. Sitting as low as possible inside the hole Anderson fired a shot

and the tiger ran away wounded. But the real problem started then as rain started pouring

in. Anderson knew that the stream would now become a gushing river. He tried hard to

move the wheel above him but it was tightly dug in by the boulders. As rain water rose he

became alarmed and at last he could pull himself out from another hole by cutting it

open. Within five minutes the stream water took logs of wood and the wheel along with

the boulders away. In his third attempt to bag the man-eater Anderson came from

Bangalore hearing that he had attacked a cart-driver. Tracking the pugmarks he chose to

sit on a small rock wearing the clothes of Ranga. Nothing happened till eleven at night

when Anderson sensed something wrong though he could not see anything. He then

noticed a small blur which gradually became larger. Then he realized that the tiger was

moving on his haunches and drew nearer. As the tiger planned to launch an attack on him

he killed it with four shots. He found that the tiger was lamed by a pellet shot earlier

which made him look for easier prey in men. 438

Providing a variation to the usual man-eater stories, Anderson gives an account of

a big black bear that launched attack on humankind for unknown reason in ‘Alam Bux

and the Big Black Bear’. On the way to Shimoga from Bangalore there was a small

shrine whose old caretaker was named Alum Bux and was known to Anderson. The bear

was big and took up its residence inside the boulders behind the Muslim shrine. After

killing two people it attacked Bux’s son who died of his wounds bleeding profusely.

Anderson was asked to shoot the bear by the poor father. After two night’s vigil the

                                                            
438
Ibid., pp. 258-272

247
hunter did not meet with success. He went back to Bangalore and after ten days he

received news of the bear’s latest kill. Accompanied by the DFO he reached Sakrepatna

to hear that a farmer was badly mauled by the bear. Anderson searched for his body and

went miles inside the jungle. When he finally found the injured man, and took his

bleeding body on him he slipped and sprained his ankle. He spent his night with the dead

body in the jungle. For his injury he took rest for four days. Four days later Anderson

shot the bear sitting under a tree. In the meantime the bear mauled two more men.439

‘The Mamandur man-eater’ is another narrative about a young tigress that turned

to prey upon men leaving her own food. This tigress was also a cattle-lifter who gradually

got bold and attacked the grazers. Then on one occasion she left the cow and started

eating the flesh of the man sitting in the open. After mauling three men of whom two died

of their wounds the tigress killed another three people. Anderson came to Mamandur

after being invited by the DFO Mr. Littlewood. From the bungalow Anderson watched

the fire lines and arranged for three heifers to be baited along the lines. When he was

there news came to him that a kill has been made. Two signalmen had gone to light the

inner and outer signals and one of them did not return. The railway track ran through the

jungle. Walking along the track he noticed the white loincloth beside a culvert and went

to investigate. He found the half eaten body and the detached head with staring eyes lying

beside the canal. He spread himself on the track to wait for the tigress to reappear.

Anderson had a fondness for the dramatic and the eerie narrative. He goes to a great

length to narrate his hair-raising experience as he saw the severed head move into his

direction. But after a while he realized that it was two beetles who were trying to roll the
                                                            
439
Ibid., pp. 273-287

248
head. His efforts to shoot the man-eater went into disarray as two express trains came on

the track and the driver of the first train stopped it fearing Anderson might suicide by

jumping before the train. The driver thought him to be mad that he waited in the jungle

with the mutilated body to shoot the tiger. Next afternoon when he heard that no baits

were taken, He decided to take a stroll and started along the forest by the fire lines. He

dressed in white and his shirt was not tucked in. When he came on the fire line which

crossed the railway track he heard the moan of a tigress. With utmost caution he hid

behind a tree and called it by imitating a tiger-call. When she passed him, he shot her

behind the ear. He confesses that “She had no chance. It was an unsporting shot.” 440After

that no human killing was reported in Mamandur.

‘The Crossed Tusker of Gerhetti’ records the rampage of a rogue which took lives

of many a people. In most cases the elephant attacked the person and the man ran as fast

as he could only to be overtaken by the rogue and then thrashed to death. As the official

notification reached Anderson he took no notice of it as he was not interested in elephant-

shooting. But when he was informed by his friend Ranga that a tribal woman was killed

by the elephant he could not wait any longer. He chased a wrong elephant and had a

narrow escape. After much pain-staking effort he could track the rogue elephant with his

companion Ranga. In a brave step he drove the car to the river bank where the bull was

devouring banana leaves but the elephant charged at them picking up their smell. The

elephant had to be shot several times before it ran a long distance and succumbed to its

injuries. The hunters left the bleeding elephant to its mercy for the whole night before

releasing him from its agony with a straight shot. Anderson observes: “Although a killer,

                                                            
440
Ibid., pp. 288-307

249
the ‘crossed-tusker of Gerhetti’ was a brave fighter, and I honoured him as he lay before

my still-smoking muzzle- mighty in life and even mightier in his death!” 441

In the ‘Sangam Panther’ the great hunter records how he shot the panther while

other hunters from Bangalore could not. The panther killed the helpless men and dragged

the dead bodies to eat their flesh outside their huts. People were so frightened that they

refused to offer any help to the victims and stayed indoors. Even Anderson was once

refused to be let in by the villagers at night. On two occasions he spent inside the cattle

shed waiting for the panther. While he was in the village the leopard mauled a young

woman severely. The leopard bit her through the neck after he was prevented from

dragging her body through the hut by her father and brothers. Though he took her to the

city hospital she died there. He took her dead body back to Sangam and to the Cauvery

for cremation in blood-soaked clothes. Anderson extended his leave to kill the man-eater.

Next, he lied on the roof of the cattle shed for two nights. On the second night the leopard

came and was about to leap upon him on the shed when he reacted in a flash of a second

and shot him from point blank range. He found that mainly old age incapacitated the

female leopard from taking its natural food. “Modern firearms and the human intellect are

heavy odds against the jungle instinct, cunning and pangs of hunger.” 442

Then comes the story of a tiger that according to Anderson for three months held

sway over nearly half a district comprising of 3600 miles. The tiger in ‘The Ramapuram

Tiger’ came from the hills and starting its career with cattle-lifting gradually took the

lives of the coolies in the coffee estates. An angry man carried a trap inside the jungle and

                                                            
441
Ibid., pp. 324-329
442
Ibid., pp. 330-351

250
the tiger was caught in it. But it succeeded in carrying the trap with it and was severely

injured which nearly blinded it and its appearance became vicious. When a road coolie

woman was attacked in front of her companions everybody saw that the tiger had no left

eye or left ear. A road coolie named Jeyken the husband of the man-eater’s first victim

came for Anderson’s assistance. Then in the afternoon they got a report that the tiger had

made a kill and had dragged it inside the bamboo jungle. Following the trail Anderson

went straight into the den of another tigress with two small cubs. The tigress growled and

he had to trace his steps backwards and he thanked god for his narrow escape. Returning,

he suddenly came in front of the man-eater who stealthily crept up behind him. As he

went to examine the bullock which was tied as a bait the man-eater leapt over the bullock

to get him. When he shot the tiger the first shot killed the bullock and the tiger was buried

under it. Then he managed to get a shot at the tiger and killed it. “I had killed the poor

bull that had unwittingly saved my life. My hands were trembling, my knees wobbled,

and suddenly I felt very, very sick. The reaction, after the events of the evening, was

sudden. I sat on the ground, with my back to the fig tree, and raised my hand to my

forehead, which I was surprised to find icy cold to my touch.”- was Anderson’s reaction.

Back in the village everybody rejoiced. He observes: “Jeyken was especially pathetic to

watch. With his knife he started to stab the dead tiger-to my dismay, for he was further

damage to a skin already well-nigh ruined by my bullets.”443 The deep-hearted weeping

of a strong and brave man like Jeyken was unpleasant to him to watch. Next morning

Jeyken took him to the shrub beside the road where the tiger laid in wait for him.

Anderson thought that it was Providence or his guiding spirit who saved his life from this

man-eater.
                                                            
443
Ibid., pp. 368-370

251
 In this collection of shikar stories Anderson also includes the experiences of his

son Donald. The ‘Great Panther of Mudiyanoor’ in the story of the same name was

bagged by Donald and his narration takes over Anderson’s. A panther was cattle-lifting

from Anderson’s friend’s estate and he gave Donald permission to shoot it. Here Donald

writes about his father’s lucky tiger charm, given to him a jungle man called Budhia

years ago. “I know dad does not talk about this charm, as he thinks people will make fun

of him, but I also know he appears to have much faith in it. The charm is actually

wrapped in a small piece of bamboo, tied with a strand of hair from an elephant’s tail.”444

Donald’s businessman friend Rustam Dudhwala, went with him in his car and Cedric

Bone a photographer friend, also went with them. Sitting up over a kill made by the

panther of a buffalo bait Donald wounded the panther. Next morning as they scanned the

undergrowth they crossed it and seeing them the panther charged Donald. While firing,

Donald overlooked the fact that his friend Bone was exactly in the line of fire. And

Cedric actually took a photograph of the charging panther! Back in Bangalore Anderson

senior severely criticised them for their silly enthusiasm that could have been fatal. As

Rustam did not bag his tiger he went with Donald on another machan over bait. As the

tiger sprang on the live buffalo Rustam shivered violently. Then both of them fired and

he got his tiger.

‘The Mauler of Rajnagara’ is a story where the hunter returns empty-handed.

After receiving news of the severe mauling of three men Anderson went to Rajnagara.

The reported tiger did not bite its victims but they died of blood-poisoning. When

Anderson took a man with him to locate the place of its latest attack the man refused to

                                                            
444
Ibid., pp. 374-375

252
go inside the jungle. On his return he did not find the man. When his remains were found

Anderson was blamed for the mishap. But even after searching for three days he could

not shoot him. He returned after giving the widow of the man some money as

compensation.

In the introduction to The Call of the Man-Eater (1963) Anderson advocates the

use of camera over the gun. He observes:

A big movement has just started in India, although

unfortunately very late, to instil into the public mind a love
of the wild creatures around them. Many places that once
teemed with game and resounded to their joyful and
melodious voices are now realms of silence. Before this
unique heritage becomes altogether a thing of the past, it is
the duty of the government and more particularly of every
Indian to put an end to the wanton slaughter that still goes
on night after night and every day of the year.445

The Call of the Man-Eater is a chilling story of adventure with which the book

begins. Gunjar and Joldahl near the town of Bhadrabati are two forest bungalows which

are a few miles apart and both frequented by Anderson. Thus when he heard of a man-

eater operating in this region he promptly made it a point to visit the bungalow at Joldahl.

There he came to know that the young daughter of the caretaker of the bungalow of

Gunjar and a little boy were taken by the man-eater when she went to fill her water pots

in a nearby spring. When Anderson started walking towards the bungalow at Gunjar he

saw the pugmarks of a male tiger also walking in that direction. When he reached the

bungalow the caretaker broke down and he felt sorry for the father whose girl he also
                                                            
445
Ibid., pp. 405-407

253
knew very well. The bereaved father also offered to be the live bait with which he could

shoot the man-eater. As the bungalow had no modern shooting equipments Anderson and

Anantaswamy, the care-taker painstakingly carried two armchairs and an iron bed and set

up a cage-like structure beside the pool and placed a dummy in front of the spring to

distract the tiger. As evening drew on they sat inside the cage waiting for the tiger. The

tiger came accompanied by the lone jackal which is superstitiously believed to bring

death to the men in the jungle. The two men were stiff with fear as the jackal cried and

came to see them from behind. In the pitch darkness Anderson saw the tiger attacking the

dummy but the caretaker could not light the torch as he was petrified with fear. The

caretaker’s dog saved their life by barking and the tiger leapt into the jungle. The next

night they tried their luck again and as the man-eater was trying to jump on them

Anderson fired four shots into the tiger. This time too Ananthaswamy failed him and the

jackal accompanied the man-eater. According to the jungle tribes the lone jackal led his

partner to the victim. After the man-eater was killed it never reappeared.446

‘The Evil One of Umbalmeru’ narrates another story of man-eater. The first

victim of this tiger was an old man named Kothanda Reddy who went to collect herbs for

medicinal purposes. As the bodies of the victims were never found the tiger was named

the evil one. It lifted cart men also. It attacked the men who cut bamboos in the jungle.

Anderson and his friend waited for the tiger in front of pool but it never reappeared.

When Anderson discussed the matter with the station master he gave him a clue. In the

recent past a tigress from the circus fled into the nearby jungle and the reports of killings

were occurring since then. As the tigress was fed in the afternoon the victims were also

                                                            
446
Ibid., pp. 411-452

254
taken in the afternoon. It was called Rani. A man named Ramiah was given a plot of land

to cultivate by Anderson free of cost. He showed a number of caves bordering a lake

where possibly the tigress made her den. After searching for a while the tigress appeared

from the last cave. Anderson called her by Rani and she stopped for a while. He shot her

giving relief to the villagers. Anderson describes at a great length how the pet tiger or

leopard can turn into dangerous man-eaters.447

‘A Night by the Campfire’ has various accounts of Anderson’s pet animals who

were rescued from the jungle and stayed on with him for years. It has a long list of bear,

hyena, jackal, python, leopards and many dogs. He gives the readers detailed accounts of

how he raised them and sent them to zoos or kept with him, and their diet and treatment.

He once stole meat from the butcher’s house in order to give his pet hyena his daily food.

He provides another account of a rogue elephant which died a tragic death in the

quicksand. Much like Corbett’s Jungle Lore he narrates his various experiences in the

jungle. In Jungle Days and Nights and guides the readers through the dense forests of

south India. But his accounts have some disturbing elements to offer too. He narrates one

incident where he was blamed by the police for discovering the dead body of a young

woman in the jungle. Next time he did not take any risk and avoided a young woman who

was lying unconscious on the road. He suspected that she was raped and was left to die in

the forests. Though his conscience pricked him he left her. In the ‘Sulekunta Panther’ he

agreed to shoot a tiger only to please his local tribal friend who would have presented the

skin to the Patel for earning favours. He decided not to kill the panther. From Mauler to

Man-Eater has the narrator as his son Donald, who with the help of Byra, his father’s

                                                            
447
Ibid., pp. 453-506

255
friend, manages to finish off the man-eater. Byra proves to be an extremely courageous

man. 448

Anderson and his occult experiences

A considerable portion of Anderson’s writings is devoted to describing the

superstitions of the local people including the tribes. But it was not with the detached

gaze of the anthropologist that Anderson recorded these folkways: he seemed to have

become deeply interested in the occult and the uncanny himself. In the introduction to the

stories of man-eating tigers, Anderson refers to the “stories of the denizens of the forest;

tales of incidents, macabre and ghostly sketches”449Taking the local priest Byra as his

guide, he takes the reader through the jungle along the river Cauvery and introduces him

to the sights and sounds of it. Anderson’s tales of ghosts are as fascinating as the stories

of man-eaters. He was himself interested in the eerie happenings in the forest bungalows

as well as many occult rites. Strangely, he could fit in the experiences of the occult and

other supernatural beings into the larger frame of the jungle stories.

In ‘Tales of the Supernatural’ in Tales from Indian Jungles Anderson narrates his

various encounters with the other-worldly beings. In the Kalhatti forest bungalow he saw

along with his son the apparition of the watchman who was shot dead and buried long

ago. Anderson observes that he is “no authority on the occult” and he proposes “only to

record some of the beliefs of the people of South India.” He narrates the case of Captain

                                                            
448
Ibid., pp. 725-729
449
Anderson, Kenneth The Kenneth Anderson Omnibus (Vol-I) ( New Delhi: Rupa & Co., 2000; rpt 2003)
p 4

256
Neide, who removed an old lamp from an ancient temple and consequently almost died

of fever. He only recovered when he returned the lamp to its resting place. In the same

locality lived the young girl who was possessed by the evil spirit that made her to vomit

stones each time she attempted to eat her evening meal. Anderson saw this himself and he

saw her cured by a religious healer.

Anderson goes on to describe the common beliefs of people in the south India

regarding a pair of evil spirits that exist as man and wife. The female is referred to in the

Tamil as a ‘minnispuram’ and in Malayalam as a ‘yakshi’. It is believed that the female is

very hostile and dangerous to human beings, particularly to other women, while the

males are generally quite harmless. The Malayalees regard both the ‘yakshis’ and

‘gandharwas’ as highly dangerous to human beings. The Tamils believe that the

‘minnispurams’ can adopt any shape or form, animal or form and frequently appear as

tall pillars of nebulous whiteness or blackness. According to the Malayalees the

‘yakshis’ reveal themselves as lascivious women enticing human males to fall prey to

their charms.they are believed to die after the ‘yakshis’ have pushed them to a well or

have killed them with a blow in the head. Anderson narrates the story of two

Namboodries (priests) who met with two beautiful women and went to their house at

night. One of the priests had with him a sacred talisman with some religious inscription

on it. Despite the girl’s repeated requests to part with the sacred palm leaf the priest did

not throw it away. As a result though the priest was saved and found himself alive after

being slapped and abused by the ‘yakshi’ his friend was instantly killed.450

                                                            
450
Ibid., p.120

257
 The author of great hunting stories takes equal pride in narrating various kinds of

vampire stories as well. He observes: “It attacks from behind, then tears its victim to

pieces to devour its flesh. The only way to escape is to utter a very sacred word and turn

upon the vampire with a drawn knife. The vampire will scream like a stricken animal. It

must be stabbed repeatedly till it falls, when it will certainly disappear in a pool of blood.

Or so it is said!”451 Then Anderson gives a strange account of a spirit where a man can

have great success in business and grow prosperous if he agrees to sever all ties with his

wife and give her to the spirit at night. Anderson describes an incident where a Jewish

family from Rangoon had such a pact with a spirit. The couple had three children but the

spirit did not allow the wife to meet even her children during the night. According to the

rules she shifted to a house apart, closed the doors by nine o’clock and enjoyed her spirit-

husband till three in the morning. The earthly husband and the three children slept in

another house all night but visited her during the day. Business improved. Everything

they touched flourished and turned to gold. The family became one of the most

prosperous in Rangoon and fabulously rich. But when at one night she met her human

husband a great commotion ensued in the wife’s room. The spirit grew jealous and beat

her soundly. He told her that he would not visit her again and he did not. The fortunes of

the family went down and down. Business failed and they had to sell out. From being one

of the richest they became one of the poorest families in Rangoon.452

Anderson gives another first-hand encounter with the supernatural beings. It was

his own experience which occurred in 1950. He had offended a person and that man

                                                            
451
Ibid., pp.121-123
452
Ibid., p. 122

258
allegedly tried to harm him. For more than a fortnight he would wake up with a choking

sensation at exactly 3 a.m. He would also hear heavy footsteps as if someone was

walking outside his window in army boots. At night he also found a ball of wet mud on

him though on each occasion he would find nobody outside. Then he met a holy man in

Bangalore who helped him to get rid of his problem.. The man knew beforehand what

was bothering him. The seer told him to go home and measure six paces from his

window in the direction in which the sun rises. Then he should dig a foot into the ground.

He was instructed to destroy what he found. He assured Anderson that he would not be

troubled again. He found a small effigy of himself with his own hair and a nail stuck in it

with a dried lemon skin cut in half. He destroyed it and was not troubled by that spirit

again. Anderson was amazed at the expertise of the man and his belief in the occult grew.

He observes:

Years later, I related the incident to a person who dabbled

in such matters. He told me the clay doll with human hair
was made to represent me. The nail driven through the head
signified that the mantra had been made against my mind,
my powers of reason. If the curse had not been removed by
the seer telling me where to find the doll, I would assuredly
have become insane within a short time!453

This friend promised him to initiate him to the ‘Brotherhood of the Silver Armlet’

at his repeated persistence. On another occasion Anderson also describes the process by

which he was initiated into the occult rites. He explains that he was not allowed to reveal

the rites. The first entails the visit to an old cemetery before the night of the new moon.

He observes:
                                                            
453
Ibid., p. 121

259
 The neophyte must go alone, after midnight, carrying either
a live black cock and a knife with which to cut its throat, or
if he feels squeamish about cutting the creature’s throat, a
couple of pounds of pig’s entrails and liver instead. He
must enter the cemetery, and after a brief pooja by lighting
camphor, etc., he should cut the cock’s throat and then
proceed to cut up the whole bird, feather and all, into
finger-long pieces. Next he must walk through the
cemetery without looking back, throwing these pieces over
his left and right shoulders one by one while using the most
foul language.454

Then Anderson goes on to narrate how the great holy men of India treat the

misfortunes of people by enslaving various spirits and pleasing them with the gifts of

their fortunes. He writes: “You may have heard and read of miracles performed by holy

men in India who can produce from air articles like fruit, money, sweetmeat and even

certain medicines. These things are made possible by the services of a species of small

genii known as kutty shaitan (small devil) which becomes attached to the individual on a

sort of a fifty-fifty contract basis.” 455 According to the author the agents of the

necromancer can be seen especially after midnight before the new moon dancing on the

back of the buffaloes in a pen. These look like large moths or bats and can be invisible.

The animals apparently cannot see them. One who wishes to be a seer who can perform

miracles a deal with the small devil is to be made. But it is very difficult to get out of the

deal as he invites the devil to reside within himself. If he wishes to have the services of

the devil he receives a message to curve a small black doll of wood or ivory and to

perform a little pooja in front of it every day with candles and incense. The man can then
                                                            
454
Ibid., pp. 125-126
455
Ibid., pp. 125-128

260
ask for and get anything he wants, provided he agrees to return it within a fixed time. But

he cannot get something for nothing. Everything has to be returned at the time promised.

Otherwise the man is doomed. The spirit does only one free service for its patron. It

warns him of approaching danger and contrives to get him out of it. Anderson warns his

readers: “But the wages demanded by the sprite are costly. The life-span of its patron is

shortened; he can have no dealings with a woman; he is hardly allowed to sleep at night;

he can never accumulate wealth, he will always be a wanderer, restless, unable ever to

settle down.”456

Anderson then gives another account of two brothers Mohammed Bey Ali Bey,

who were Egyptians. Both were trained necromancers. Mohammed Bey told Anderson’s

friend a colonel and doctor in the army that, he can summon a spirit in front of him and

make him his servant. But if he tries to employ the spirit to do harm to others then the

spirit will turn upon him and he will surely die. The doctor did not believe his words. The

necromancer then gave him a drawing and mantra. He then gives the detailed direction of

chanting the mantra in the cemetery for twenty two days. On the auspicious day the

recipient must fast and then must order a large garland of roses. At midnight the colonel

and the Egyptian were placing the garland upon a tombstone of a grave. But the

procedure went wrong somewhere and the Egyptian was attacked by some evil force. As

the colonel was also a doctor he could save the Egyptian by treating him from an

epileptic fit and by tearing the garland into pieces. Many Indian families, Anderson

observes, believes in deities who are neither God nor evil spirits. Superior orders are

believed to bring with them the scent of roses. The major guardian announces his

                                                            
456
Ibid., pp.127-128

261
presence by making a noise as if a man were walking around the house snapping his

thumb against his fingers or by measured heavy footsteps.

The beliefs and practices of many Christian converts in India, both Roman

Catholic and Protestant, were indeed a queer mixture of religion, superstition and

occultism. Saint Anthony, who is regarded everywhere as a most beneficent man while

alive, has come to be looked upon by many in India as an infallible means of effecting

revenge upon others as well as acquiring benefits by prayer. He is also regarded as the

main means for the recovery of lost or stolen property and for inflicting punishment on

the thief dreadful diseases such as cholera and plague. It is thought that certain kind of

favours is granted within eight days but major favours are granted by the saint within one

month. The recovery of lost property is assured by offerings to the saint for thirteen

consecutive evenings. Anderson describes a strange procedure of forcing the statue of the

saint to grant favour by people of the Hyderabad state by tying the feet of it with rope or

smearing it with chilly powder in Kazipet. Similarly statues and photographs of Virgin

Mary are worshipped for gaining favours of various kinds. 457 In cemeteries where

Christians are buried relatives of the dead are seen to offer milk and fruit to the

tombstone to enable them for a easier journey to heaven. Anderson also discusses the

superstitious beliefs of the Hindus. The horoscope of a child is made to assign the date of

marriage and Hindus also take into account the good time or bad time prescribed in the

calendar to start a journey. An abominable procedure of killing a live turtle and then

planting dried pumpkin seeds into its decaying head is narrated to make a ring in order to

                                                            
457
Ibid., pp. 134-140

262
attract the opposite sex. The seedlings are then planted inside the ring and the copper ring

is then sealed with wax or lead.

At the end of his occult experiences Anderson narrates an adventure where he

himself witnessed a supernatural being but was not harmed. In a town named

Chitaldroog, in Shimoga in the then Mysore state, a man-eating tiger was on the prowl.

The tiger was believed to have taken two men from neighbouring villages. But no

remains of their body were found. The large tiger took its place in an abandoned temple.

The two men had their families. They were carrying huge amounts of money when they

disappeared. They were believed to be in love with the same poor girl. Anderson

observes: “India is one of the few places left in the world today where wives do not dare

to question their husband’s movements or authority. The man’s word is law and women

are content to confine their activities to the kitchen.”458 Anderson went to see the temple

prepared to stay at night. He started his vigil at night hiding behind the broken parapet of

the large stone well in the temple premises. When darkness approached the blazing

afternoon he sat prepared to meet the tiger. Suddenly he heard three distinct whistles

coming from inside the well. He could not see the tiger or anything else but became

alarmed. He heard the three whistles again after a gap of about ten minutes. Then he

could catch a glimpse of the tiger as a grey blur from the corner of the eye. But it was not

aware of his presence. Then for the third time he could hear the three whistles in a rising

crescendo. But the tiger seemed unperturbed by the shrill sound. As Anderson could see

the tiger licking itself and going forward he could also hear a flapping sound of wings of

a large bat-like animal from inside the well. For the fourth time he heard the whistles. He

                                                            
458
Ibid., p. 141

263
was perplexed and could not take aim to shoot the tiger. While staring at the well he

could see a large cloud of something like thick black smoke issuing from the well. He

observes: “A great lassitude seemed to come over me; a sort of strange, morbid despair.

Did it matter what came out of the well? Was life worth living with all its troubles? Why

not jump into the well and forget about everything?” Within seconds that had vanished in

front of his eyes. After that he felt cold and clammy. 459

Then he discovered that the tiger had returned was staring at him. The animal

snarled at him in protest. “It had had me at its mercy and could have killed me before I

was even aware of its presence. This tiger was no man-eater!” he writes. He was grateful

to that tiger for his life. Next morning when he told his friends in the village about the

incident everybody asked if he had seen any creature like a huge bat. When his friend

gave him a knowing smile he told him the whole tale. Then his friend told him the story

of the haunted temple. Long ago there ensued a battle between the high priest and the

jester in this small state. The high priest treacherously killed the rival. As a result and

according to his warning the avenger then took the lives of the following priests one by

one. Gradually the temple went into ruin. His friend warned him of danger. But he was

annoyed and did not believe his friend. Later on he apologized for his rude behaviour and

once again went to see the tiger. He saw and heard the same flapping again, loud and

clear. He was afraid of the dancing smoke as it reached upward like snakes and his hands

began to tremble.

There seemed something indescribably evil about this

vapour, and it brought a reaction I had never experienced

                                                            
459
Ibid., pp.145-148

264
 before....I am by no means a squeamish person, but for the
next few moments I did not know what was happening.
Perhaps to say that I was taken out of myself would be
nearest to the mark. A deep and urgent yearning came over
me to jump over the parapet into the well.460

As the cloud of smoke lifted he was drawn back to the earth once again and his

depressed mind became sensible once again. Anderson went back to Bangalore the

following day as he could not solve the mystery. He did not kill the tiger as he was

certain that it was not a man-eater.

Anderson’s stories have many flavours to suit the palate of both Indian and

foreign readers who are interested in the sights and sounds of the jungle from a bygone

era when there were no ban on tiger-shooting. Though his stories are about the man-

eating tigers and leopards or rogue elephants, it is evident that many shooting sprees are

left untold. Mehrotra observes: “Anderson’s deep ambivalence is partly due to his own

immersion in the world of shikar. He is proud of his son’s bag of seventy panthers but

deeply perturbed by city-based hunters who traverse the forest in jeeps, shooting

everything on four feet.”461 Anderson was reluctant to shoot elephants if they were not

declared rogues, but he enjoyed shooting crocodiles or wild dogs. He did not like ugly

animals. In this regard Mehrotra observes: “The sporting ethic is deeply in his worldview,

but he has prejudices common to elite hunters of his day: his delight in one animal’s

antics is matched by a deep bias against certain other species.”462 Along with his son

Donald’s narrative these three books are a delightful read though sometimes the

                                                            
460
Ibid., pp.149-157
461
Mehrotra, An Illustrated History, p. 357
462
Ibid., p. 356

265
descriptions of the jungle are repetitive. Unlike the brave hunter Corbett, Anderson

prefers to sit on the machan with bait tied below to shoot his tigers. Rarely does he stalk

them. Corbett, his readers may remember, used to stalk and hunt the tigers covering miles

of walk through mountainous terrain. Corbett preferred to go alone and did not risk

others’ lives while stalking man-eaters. But Anderson is often accompanied by his tribal

shikari friends and on one occasion accidentally gave away an innocent life to the man-

eater. Mehrotra observes:

The jungles Kenneth Anderson tramps through are not a

pristine wilderness but the habitat of a bustling and
vigorous human society. There are people chopping wood,
grazing cattle, setting traps for birds, gathering flowers and
herbs, and foragting for fuel. Such people assist him in his
npursuits or ask his help in ridding them of an animal that
has lost its ingrained fear of humans.463

Like Corbett Anderson also turned to camera in his later days. Only in his last

book he wrote about watching wildlife. It indicated how the world of the animals had

changed from when he started writing to the end of his career. Corbett mentions of the

occult in his stories twice. In this respect Anderson’s narrative acquires an altogether

different dimension. Anderson not only tells about them, he gives the detailed accounts of

various rites performed by the people in India. It enables the Europeans to look at the

stories as the stories of the ‘other’. Anderson himself being a Christian could not avoid

being interested in those occult practices and takes the readers along to the cemetery to

witness the initiation ceremony. In the modern society where the jungle is rapidly losing

its magnificent great beasts, the stories of the supernatural intertwined between the
                                                            
463
Ibid., p. 357

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hunting narratives certainly draw the readers to them. Sometimes the narrator seems to be

over-zealous in describing the sensational stories. In the overall analysis the narrator

seems to authenticate his position as the man of the jungle, supplying the obvious and the

inexplicable at the same time. This omnibus leaves the readers craving for more such

stories.

Figure 12: “Ungovernable rage of the infuriated elephant. The ‘Royal Bengal Tiger’ falls to
rise no more. In the intensity of the excitement Mr. Peter Piper loses his equilibrium.” by
John Tenniel, 1853

(www.konkykru.com/e.tenniel.piper.html)
 

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