The Man-Eater of Segur- A guide for Walkback

The Man-Eater of Segur 

It is a wonderful story  by Kenneth Anderson,of a tiger as a career of a man eater and its end happened  at the hamlet of Sigur situated at the foot of the north-eastern slopes of the  Nilgiri Mountains, In Tamil Nadu, believed to be happened in 1954, (Source Wikipedia)"In 1954, a young man-eating male Bengal tiger named the "Tiger of Segur" killed 5 people between Sigur and Anaikatty villages in the Sigur Plateau.[11]"

The sigur plateau is an important region  and  Moyar watershed area has a been background for the  stories :The Man eater of Segur,The Great Panther of Mudiyanoor,Swamy of Valaithottathu, Queer side of Things(Chemmanatham Temple)The Black Rogue of Moyar Valley,What thunderstorm bought and one legged Dutch man etc. KA possessed some  properties in Mavanahalla, including a bungalow named as Serinity, and it is very near to the site of Chital Walk of ERC Davidar. 

A Thoda village, closely Resembles  to Anaikatty village, (depiction 1840s)

The Essence of Story 

Kenneth Anderson starts  with descriptions of  Nigiri's beauty of nature, dense tropical jungles that prevail and also refers to the rich wild life. Anderson also informs about three distinct native tribes that inhabited in that area, the Badagas, Karumbas and the sholagas. These forests were a favorite resort of Anderson, the Davidars, and he had several little adventures that are still memorable after many years. We already read about a bungalow made by him now know as serenity which is functioning as a tourist resort. it boasts that once KA had owned the place. Mark Davidars's bungalow, (Chital walk) is near ti this .   ‘The man-eater of Segur’. This tiger was originally from the jungles of  Malabar-Wynaad.That made personally more attached to me, because that is my native place.

 Anderson arrived  at Anaikutty and  spent many nights on  trees at various places and frequently traversed the forest road between Segur and Anaikutty with two karumbas in search of a tiger, but without success.  Anderson narrates experience of his visit to a  bear-cave, and facts of Karadi Rotti. Anderson reveals several facts says that every man-eater becomes very cautious by practice and  possessed of a very acute sixth sense,therefore takes great care while approaching back to the prey  He also narrates death of the son of the forest guard at Anaikutty.  He spent a night on the machan and suffered from malarial chills.  Anderson shot the man-eater in the river bed following the trail of it from the dense forest to the Segur River. when examined the dead body he found the reason of  maneating  career  a gunshot of poacher that blinded the  animal and so the tiger had taken his revenge.

Please note the names and spellings of the places. 

Anaikutti=Anaikatti,Anaikutty,Anakatti.
Segur= Sigur (a village near to Valaithottam),Sigur plateau, Sigur falls
Segur River = Sigur River
Valaithothu=Valaithottam,Vazhaithottam
Masinigudi=Masinagudi,Masanam gudi(T).

Mahvanhalla=Mavanahalla,Mavanalla

Nilgiri= Nilgiries(District,Hills,Biosphere) Blue mountains 

Ooty= Ootacamund

Tippakadu=Theppakkadu

Moyar= A village  named Moyar.

Moyar river= Mayar in Tamil

Ooty lake, Satellite view

Nilgiris, Dated back 1900.

3D depiction of Nilgiries , Arial view, as  you approaching  from Bangalore. See Anderson's description on his own words:The hamlet of Segur is situated at the foot of the north- eastern slopes of the well-known Nilgiri Mountains in South India. On the summit of this lovely range stands the beautiful health resort of Ootacamund.This 'Queen of Hill Stations',is the focal point of visitors from all the length and breadth of India.

Satellite view of blue mountains and moyar gorge. 

3D reverse picture of the Masinagudi -Ooty road.This is  a shortcut to Ooty avoiding Gudalur Town. A steep ghat-road, 12 miles in length, leaves Ootaca-mund, and after passing through graceful, rolling downs,  drops sharply downwards to Segur, at the foot of the range, where dense tropical forests prevail. The road is so steep in places as to be almost unusable, except to motor cars of fairly high power. 

The places  are marked here were  described by Anderson  exactly as he had a google earth map. :At Segur the road bifurcates, one branch running north-westwards through dense forest, past the hamlet of Mahvanhalla and the village of Masinigudi, to meet the main trunk road, linking the cities of Bangalore  and Mysore with Ootacamund, at the forest chowki of Tippakadu. The other bifurcation leads eastwards through equally dense forest, along the base of the Blue Mountains,(RED Line) to the forest bungalow of Anaikutty, nine miles away. Two perennial streams water this area, the Segur River and the Anaikutty River, both descending in silvery cascades from the Blue mountains; here their waters run through giant tropical forests to join those of the Moyar River, some fifteen miles away

Sigur and OOty

 Two perennial streams water this area, the Segur River (RED Arrows) and the Anaikutty River, (BLUE Line) both descending in silvery cascades from the Blue mountains; here their waters run through giant tropical forests to join those of the Moyar River, some fifteen miles away

Now with tarred road, bridge to Anaikatty. River, Forest Bungalow and village of Anaikkatty can be seen. this places are important throughout the story.

117 year old : The forest-bungalow of Anaikutty is built on a knoll, past which run the swirling waters of the Anaikutty river.

Relative positions of Anaikatty and Masinagudi in Sigure Platue.:The Moyar River, or 'Mysore Ditch', as it is known, forms the boundary between the native state of Mysore on the north, the district of Coimbatore on the north-east, and the Nilgiri Range with its foot-hills on the south, both Coimbatore and the Nilgiris forming part of the Province of Madras.

The evergreen forests of the Malabar- Wynaad extend to the west and south-west. All the areas mentioned are densely wooded, hold game preserves on the Mysore, Malabar, and Nilgiri sides, and are the habitat of large numbers of wild elephant, bison, tiger, panther, sambar, spotted-deer and other animals.

On November 4, 2012, the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite acquired this image of Moyar, a village on Sigur Plateau that is home to about 1,000 people. The Moyar River lies to the north of the village, at the bottom of a steep gorge. (Note that the gorge looks like a ridge because of an optical effect known as relief inversion.) The smaller Sigur River—visible as a darker line of green—meanders south of the village. The river is an important water source for many types of wildlife. It cascades hundreds of meters at Sigur Falls, forming the dark blue pools on the right side of the image. It then winds east through the steep valley.

look closely for  the Rest house, situated nearby the river and road, which once used by ERC Davidar and family.

From Priya Davidar's book :Whispers from the Wild: Writings by E.R.C. Davidar...Strangely Anderson  also remembers the place in connection with  Christmas. Andersons words: 

Here a truly Christmassy feeling prevails, before a blazing fire of forest logs, while the party discusses the latest stories of the 'abominable snow-man', or ghost stories are related in hair-raising detail. Even within the compound of this bungalow elephant and tiger and panther roam, their screams, roars and grunts reminding the sleepy inmate, snugly tucked below double-blankets, with the glow of a fire by his bedside, that he is still in the midst of a tropical jungle. These forests are a favourite resort of mine, and in them I have met with several little adventures that are still memorable after these many years.

Forest Rest house Anaikatty.

The nights are then so intensely cold that one is invariably confined to the bungalow itself, in all the rooms of which fire-places have been provided. 

Wild Dogs (Cuon alpinus), in Masinagudi:Photo by Tigertracks

Wild-dogs, which hunt in packs in India, varying in numbers from three to thirty, sometimes invade these forests from over the boundaries of Mysore and Coimbatore, where they are very numerous, more so in the latter district. 

These packs are very destructive to all forms of deer, particularly sambar and spotted-deer, which they hunt down inexorably, and tear limb from limb while still alive.

Anderson  describes  Three distinct tribes of natives inhabit these areas. 

The Badagas are an indigenous people inhabiting the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu, southern India. Their language is Badaga. They are the largest indigenous social group in Nilgiris .

Many Badagas are under the mistaken impression that if they are brought under the “Scheduled Tribe”, it is a degrading step. I do not think so. Badagas are one of the ‘ORIGINAL’ tribes of the Nilgiris along with Todas, Kothas and Kurumas.

Till the 1931 Census, the Badagas were classified as 'important primitive tribes'. There was no census held in 1941 due to the world war. In 1950, post independence, the community was deleted from the ST list for reasons unknown.The Badaga people woke up to the matter only in the late 1970s. Since then, they have been fighting for lost ground but in vain

From a  Badaga  Wedding.

Anderson Wrote:

There are the Badagas, descendants of long-ago invaders from the state of Mysore, themselves fleeing from Mahommedan conquerors from the north. These Badagas have now become rich; they own lands, vast herds of cattle and semi- wild buffaloes, with tremendously long, curved horns. 

 Kesava

Next come the Kesavas, the greatest in numbers but laziest in disposition, who work under the Badagas as herdsmen and tillers of the soil. Unfortunately,on my search on net, I understood that  there is no  tribal community  with a name Kesava living in this region.  Irulas, Todas, Kothas and Kurumas (kurubas) are other leading communities. A sub division of Irula,called Kasaba Irular
 living in  masinagudi area. 

South India has a rich cultural history, greater than our imaginations. the tribal communities and their customs are pointing out this. The World Heritage Committee of the United Nations has deferred India’s request to declare the Western Ghats as a UNESCO World Heritage in the category of natural sites. While making a fresh bid, the authorities would do well to highlight the significance of the Western Ghats as a cultural heritage site too. Nilgiris, at least, qualifies for this heritage tag. Anyway unlike Anderson said, Only 5 tribal communities prevailed in that area. they are Irulas, Badgas, Kothas, Todas and Kurumbas.

Over the last two centuries, scholars, both Western and Indian, have highlighted the unique socio-economic and cultural life of the indigenous people in the Nilgiris with special focus on the self-sufficient and interdependent economy of these mountain peoples and their peaceful coexistence. I feel,However, these indigenous groups have ended up as ‘development refugees’ thanks to the relentless process of development the hills were subjected to both during and after the colonial rule.

Todas

The Toda are known by several names like Tudas, Tudavans, and Todar. They are found only in Nilgiri district.The Government of India has identified the Toda as one of the six Primitive Tribal groups of Tamil Nadu. The name Toda is supposed to be derived from the word 'tud', the sacred tud tree of Todas. The Linguist Emeneau(1958 : 47 - 50) said that, "Toda dialect is an independent language of the Dravidian family affiliated with Tamil - Malayalam.

Photograph of two Toda men and a woman. Nilgiri Hills, 1871. They once practised fraternal polyandry.(Source Wiki)







 Toda people are white (fair) in colour, being tall, strong built and well shaped. The striking feature of the women is the arrangement of their hair which is dressed in ringlets and flows waving down to the shoulders. 



The uniqueness of the half - barrel shaped houses given speculations regarding their origin ranged from Rome to Sumeria.Note the style of wraping the cloth



Besides the huts, the mund has another hut with a smaller doorway, called 'Tirierl' or dairy temple. In the vicinity of the mund is the cattle - pen.




The Toda village is called a mund, means a herd or a cattle - pen. It is usually a collection of three or five half barrel shaped huts each 18 feet by 9 feet by 10 feet high with a small doorway measuring only 32 inches by 18 inches.




 The traditional garment of a Toda is known as put - kuli, is of thick white cotton cloth with red and blue stripes which is embellished further embroidery by the Toda women, is thrown around the body by the men and women like 'Roman toga'. Jewelry is worn by both men and women.

The Kothas

The Kothas, live in Seven settlements, generally known as Kotagiri or Kokkal. So    the Kesavas noted in the story are not Kothas.They are village artisans, who are good in carpentry, black smithy and pottery. But only a few families are engaged in these skills as a means of living. Most others are engaged in cultivation. Happily, most of the Kota families in all the settlement have their own patta land. Unlike Todas,  they do not shy away from personal cultivation and are generally hard working people. In the field of education also they have stolen a march over other tribal communities. Today, many of them are working in the Governmental departments.



Karumbas

Lastly, come the Karumbas, comparatively few in number, the original inhabitants of the land and now entirely jungle-men; they live on wild honey, roots, hunting and the trapping of small animals and birds. These Karumbas make excellent trackers, and like the Sholagas of the Coimbatore District and Pujarees of Salem, are true children of nature, who are born and live in the forests till the day of their death.

From G. Oppert. Original Inhabitants of India—”Kurubas or Kurumbas. the Kurumbas must be regarded as very old inhabitants of this land, who can contest with their Dravidian kinsmen the priority of occupation of the Indian soil. The terms Kuruba and Kurumba are originally identical, though the one form is, in different places, employed for the other, and has thus occasionally assumed a special local meaning. Mr. H. B. Grigg appears to contradict himself when, while speaking of the Kurumbas, he says that ‘in the low country they are called Kurubas or Cūrubāru, and are divided into such families as Ānē or elephant, Nāya or dog, Māle or hill Kurumbas. Such a distinction between mountain Kurumbas and plain Kurumbas cannot be established. The Rev. G. Richter will find it difficult to prove that the Kurubas of Mysore are only called so as shepherds, and that no connection exists between these Kurubas and the Kurumbas. Mr. Lewis Rice calls the wild tribes as well as the shepherds Kurubas, but seems to overlook the fact that both terms are identical, and refer to only the ethnological distinction.”

Irulas

Irula or Irulas, a Scheduled Tribe, are one of the major tribes if Tamil Nadu and are distributed in twelve districts which includes the Nilgiris. In Tamil Nadu, the Irula are known by several names as Irular, Iruligaru, Iruliga, Iruvan, Villiar, Kadu Poojaris etc, but the Irula people who are dwelling in Nilgiris district prefer to call themselves as "Irulas". The name Irula is supposed to be derived from the Tamil word "Irul" meaning darkness which may refer to their black skin complexion. The Government of India, identified the Irula as one of the six primitive tribal groups of Tamil Nadu.

Update: 

They speak Irula, a dialect which is a south Dravidian language of the Tamil-Malayalam sub group. Irula settlement is called as aral, represent many houses built contiguous to each other.courtesy :Yamuna Raju

Typical man wears a short piece of cloth around the waist and a towel on his shoulder, woman wears thundu, (a piece of cloth) around the waist in combination with the modern blouse. They are non-vegetarians. courtesy :Yamuna Raju

 James Wilkinson Breeks, stated that Rangaswami peak can be called as the headquarters of the Nilgiris Irulas in his book ‘Primitive Tribes and Monuments of the Nilgiris” published in 1873.

Irulars are classified into various subgroups based on linguistic and social variations,

1. Malenadu Irular
2. Kasaba Irular
3. Vettakkara Irular
4. Urali Irular
5. Villiyan.

The first four subgroups share similar ethnic and linguistic features but with slight variations, and are mostly found in Nilgiris and so referred to as Nilgiri Irulars.

The Irulas in Nilgiri district have three social divisions known as Mudumars (southern Irulas of Kotagiri base), Kasabas (northern Irulas of Masinagudi base), Urali Irulas of Attapady (Kerala) base. 

Possibilities of Irulas has been mentioned as Kesavas in this story is ruled out . 

Kasaba Irular have settlements on these tribal villages in the Sigur plateau:They include, from East to West: Sigur, Anaikatti, Chokkanalli, Vazhaithottam, Sholur, Masinagudi, Boothanatham, Mavanhalla, Bokkapuram, Hundi,Moyar, Singhara, Tippakadu,Siriyur, Chamanatham and Kurumbarpallam.

 'Man-eater of Segur'

 Having given the reader a little idea of the country in which the adventure took place, Anderson  telling the story of the 'Man-eater of Segur'. This tiger was reported to have come originally from the jungles of the Silent Valley Forest Block in the District of Malabar-Wynaad,Kerala.

A few human kills took place in the Silent Valley and then ceased entirely, to recommence at Gudalur, some twenty miles from Tippakadu, at Masinigudi, and finally in all the areas between Segur and Anaikutty. How and why the tiger came so far from its place of origin, encircling the greater portion of the Nilgiri Mountains in doing so, no- body knows. It was midsummer and the tiger had been particularly active, killing at Segur and, within a week, at Anaikutty, when I arrived. 

The last victim had been a Kesava herds- man, tending his herd of semi-wild buffaloes some two miles from Anaikutty along the lower reaches of the river, as it wended its way towards the Moyar.

 Buffaloes grazing nearby Anaikatty:The man-eater had stalked and attacked the man, completely ignoring the surrounding grazing buffaloes. It had killed him, and was perhaps carrying him away, when the buffaloes had become aware of its presence. These animals, are only semi- domesticated, and extremely dangerous.Seeing the tiger, they had evidently attacked him , and succeeded in driving him off, leaving the dead man where he had been dropped.  It did not take them long to find the dead herdsman, surrounded by his herd of placidly grazing buffaloes, which had effectively prevented the tiger from returning to its prey.

A file photo of a Tiger in Masinagudi area from a Camera Trap: An examination of the corpse, the pug marks of the tiger, and the pursuing hooves of the charging buffaloes, revealed the sequence of happenings. . The kill that had taken place a week earlier at Segur had been that of a woman, as she went down to the Segur River with her water-pot to fetch the daily supply of water for her family. In this case the tiger had succeeded in carrying off its victim, the only evidence of the occurrence being the mute testimony of the broken water-pot, the pugs of the tiger in the soft mud that bordered the river, a few drops of blood, the torn saree, and a few strands of human hair that had become entangled in the bushes as the tiger made off with its prey.

Reverse 3D view of the valley of anaikatty towards the hills. Lot of protruding points can be seen  with yellow arrows , means  probable places of large Rocks.:  Returning the next morning to the Anaikutty forest bungalow, where KA had established his headquarters,was informed that a Karumba, who had left the previous morning to gather wild honey from the combs of the giant rock- bee that abound by the hundred in the region of a place called 'Honey Rock', about four miles from the lower foot- hills of the Nilgiris, had not yet returned.

A honey Rock and A kurumba in honey collection: KA went to the spot and found the man had been killed by being bitten through the throat. Beside him lay his empty kerosine-tin, in which he had been gathering honey, all of which had spilt on the ground to form a feast for a colony of black-ants, which covered the tin in a black mass.

There hundreds of rock-bee hives hung from every conceivable rock-projection in long, black masses, sometimes attaining a length of over five feet, a width of a yard, and a thickness of over a foot. 

Thinking at first that the tiger had killed him, and wondering why it had not devoured him in that quiet, secluded spot, they cast around for tracks, but soon discovered that the killer had been a female sloth-bear, accompanied by its cub.

Honey hunting by Kurumbas  check this  link for NG Magacine article   http://www.natgeotraveller.in/magazine/month/july-2013/sting-in-the-tale/

A Kurumba colony

A beautiful The tamil documentary named NAALI can be seen  here about the western ghats, Nilgiris, the history of rulers who exploit the forests and tribes  by   .karthikeyan BS. Its quite long video  by four parts. But is very useful.

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6OVm2xWGUI  

Anderson had no quarrel with this animals, and would have regretted having to shoot it and leave the baby an orphan. 

The human-like imprints of the mother's feet, and the smaller impressions of the cub's, were clearly to be seen in the soft sand that formed the bed of the nala. The she-bear had been asleep with its cub, or perhaps about to cross the nala, when the Karumba, in his search for honey, had suddenly come upon it.   When the she-bear, surprised, frightened and irritated, and in defence of her young which she fancied was in danger, had rushed at the Karumba, bitten him through the throat, severing his jugular, and then made off as fast as she could. Anderson did not wish to spend time in hunting a bear which, after all, had only killed in defence of its cub, and was for returning to the bungalow at Anaikutty, when the four Karumbas urged him to track down and shoot the animal .

Mariamman Temple Anaikatti, Its Believed that Veerappan was a regular visitor here for worship

Probable  route of the bear hunting:The blue circle has an open place  where an old  Mariamman temple situates. Red arrow is the stream and yellow arrows are high points of hills ,somewhere there the caves situates. The tracks led along the nullah and then joined a stream,down which bear and her baby had ambled for some distance before breaking back into the jungle. Thence she had climbed upwards towards the many rocks and caves that gave them shelter.

 This cave they declared, was the home of the she-bear and her cub. Standing ten yards from the entrance, and to one side, KA  instructed the men to hurl stones into the interior, which they did with unabated vigour for quite twenty minutes. But not a sound did hear. One of the Karumbas came upon an interesting curiosity of the Indian forest, of which KA had heard but never seen, and the existence  never believed. He found in a corner what the natives call 'bear's bread', or 'Karadi roti', as it is named in Tamil. This was a roughly circular mass, about ten inches across, an inch thick, and of a dirty blackish-yellow, sticky consistency. A cave, inhabited by a she-bear with her young, is reported to contain sometimes a dozen such cakes.As evidence of the wholesomeness of this 'bread', the four Karumbas offered it to KA for immediate consumption, but he declined with thanks.

Anderson's motoring route from Anaikutty bungalow 

 :He set out at 8 p.m. that night, motoring slowly to Segur in my Studebaker, a Karumba acting as assistant by his side and flashing the beams of his 'sealed-beam' spotlight along the jungle on both sides.Meeting nothing, They continued for six miles along the north-western road, past Mahvanhalla and Masinigudi, and finally the four miles to the forest chowki at Tippakadu. 

On Anaikatty Masianagudi road

A bison captured in camera along the same road between Masinagudi and Theppakkadu.Note  in the  background  the famous Lantana bushes always KA talked about in his several stories.: KA Wrote :At Theppakadu  they  allowed an hour to pass before returning, this time encountering, three miles from Tippakadu, a  of bison along the roadside. These animal crashed away as the car approached closer. Between Masinigudi and Segur they  met several spotted-deer, and just after taking the turn to Anaikutty a large bull elephant in the centre of the road, his tusks gleaming sharply white in the powerful beams of the spot- light.

A powerful beam on  in the same route,

Photo taken cart roads, now jeep roads around Anaikatty 

Forest track from Anaikutty to Moyar river,which KA used  in his search, its about 7.5 miles as per satellite calculation.

The following morning, Anderson set out with a Karumba guide across the forest towards the Moyar River, nine miles to the north. They  encountered no trace of the tiger, but came across the pugs of an exceptionally large forest-panther as the land began to dip sharply to the basin of the Moyar. After judging by its tracks,  They returned to the bungalow in the late after- noon, tired and somewhat disappointed, after our long and fruitless walk.

Photo from Anaikatty village

Forest rest house and  bridge over the Anaikkutty River.  The abrupt turnings on both approach roads to the bridge makes  clear that it was not the original route of old track and river crossing. The yellow circle denotes the old ford.: Again that night they motored to Tippakadu and back, encountering only a solitary sambar, when returning, at the river crossing before the Anaikutty forest bungalow.

Forest guest house,Anaikutty

Probable wild foot path  towards nilgiries .This route now well tarred up to a place named Siriyur. With dawn KA undertook another hike, this time in a south-easterly direction and towards the Nilgiris. They found a dead cow-bison in the bush four miles away, an examination of the carcase revealing that the animal had died of rinderpest.

Mavanahalla Bridge near the hamlet.That afternoon a report came in from Mahvanhalla that the tiger had taken a woman near the bridge by which the main road to Tippakadu crosses the Mahvanhalla Stream before it joins the Segur River. Motoring to the spotKA was shown the place where, the woman having been a little apart from the rest of the party assembled near the bridge and hidden by the bend the little stream takes just before it passes under the road. She had screamed shrilly and silence had followed. The remaining graziers, five in number, had hastened to Mahvanhalla, gathered reinforcements in the form of six others, including the husband of the unfortunate woman, and turned to the spot to look for her. They had found the basket she had been carrying, and close by in the soft earth, the pug-marks of a tiger; then the whole party had returned to Mahvanhalla.

A large red-martin, a big species of mongoose that in- habits the lower slopes of the Nilgiris, was the first visitor to put in an appearance at the kill. He came at about 5.30 p.m., at first nibbled cautiously, and then began to gobble chunks of the raw meat. By 6 o'clock he had filled himself to bursting-point, and made off to pass the night in dreamless contentment, or with a heavy attack of indigestion.

The Nilgiri marten is reported from the Nilgiris, parts of southern Kodagu and Travancore Kerala, up to the Charmadi ghats.Very little is known about the Nilgiri marten. It is diurnal, and though arboreal, descends to the ground occasionally. It is reported to prey on birds, small mammals and insects.Although it looks yellow in this photo anderson described it as a red marten and its true. the wiki says:-. It is unmistakable in the field as it is dark above with a bright throat ranging in colour from yellow to orange which is the deep brown from head to rump, the forequarters being almost reddish

 

Tracking of  the Tiger.. They  went to the place where the woman had been attacked, and with the expert help of  Karumba tracker were soon able to pick up the trail of the tiger and its victim. 

The man-eater was evidently making towards a high hill, an out-spur of the Nilgiri Range, that ran parallel to the road on the west at a distance of about two miles. KA  knew its middle slopes were covered with a sea of long spear-grass which gradually thinned out as the higher, and more rocky, levels were reached.

Reverse view towards the hill.In that area,KA felt little chance of finding the tiger. After 1 mile:The Kurumba little guide continued faultlessly, and within a mile of the foot of the hill came across the woman's saree, caught in the undergrowth.

Reverse view towards the hill.

Shortly after wards the tiger appeared to have changed its mind, in that its trail veered off to the right, parallel to the hill, which now was quite near, and back again towards the bed of the Mahvanhalla Stream. Still following, They eventually reached the stream, which here ran through a deep valley. Scattered  bamboo-clumps grew in increasing numbers down this declivity, and the shrill squeal of vultures and the heavy flapping of their wings soon heralded the close of our search. The remains of the woman lay below a clump of bamboo, eaten by the tiger. 

Reverse view towards the hill.. not sitting over ..next day  KA  tied a buffalo,  close to the bend in the stream at Mahvanhalla, where the woman had been attacked.   next day runners came to Anaikutty to report that the buffalo had been killed and partly eaten by a tiger. By 3 p.m. his  machan was fixed, and he sat overlooking the dead bait, at a height of some fifteen feet.

Masinagudi -Anaikatti road

KA done his motoring along the road to Tippakadu and back, but without seeing any sign of the tiger,next day. Valaitottam Pirivu. 

This time a small panther jumped off a roadside culvert exactly at the turning point on the road to Anaikutty, and crouched in the ditch, its bright eyes gazing into the spot-light as the car passed by.KA let the little brute alone, to pass its days in happiness. 

The Culvert(YELLOW CIRCLE),Bus waiting shed (BLUE) and the Arch shaped board,(RED) at  the location 

Probable place of attack and sitting up:

A Badaga boy, the son of a rich cattle-owner at Segur( Red Circle), was carried away by the tiger while taking the midday meal to his father. The tiger had carried the boy across the Segur River(Blue arrow) and into the jungle to the north. Again we followed, without delay, and this time found the body hidden in a nala and only half -eaten.  In the vicinity of the body there was no suitable tree or rock in which to conceal Anderson, and eventually it was decided to move the corpse some fifty feet towards a bamboo clump, on the top of which an unstable machan was erected. 

The nulla and bamboo clumps. somewhere her KA erected his machan,and  tiger fled in this direction:KA find the machan is one of the worst he had ever sat on in  life. It swayed alarmingly with  every current of wind, and my slightest movement caused the bamboos to creak ominously below me. Besides, he did not have a good view of the body, which was over thirty yards away. The bamboo stems growing around him completely obstructed any view at a close range.  At 9 p.m.KA became aware of the presence of the tiger by the low moan he emitted from near the spot where he had originally left the corpse.Around and around it travelled for quite an hour, till it finally decided that the kill was forbidden fruit, and the last I heard was its plaintive moaning receding to southwards, as it made for the sheltering hills.

Direction of Tiger  from Machan (red).Cart tracks and footpaths in the area (yellow arrows)

 Gossip with the Karumbas now suggested that the tiger might be met at nights along the many cart-tracks that branched into the forest from Anaikutty, Segur and Mah- vanhalla, rather than along the main roads on which KA had been motoring for several nights. As these cart tracks were unmotorable,KA hired a bullock cart for the next week, and determined to spend each night in it meandering along every possible track in the vicinity of the three places. The driver of this cart, a Kesava, was an unusually doughty fellow, and his two Karumba scouts wereto suggest the most likely tracks.

A hero stone from Anaikatti

 Probabale place of the meeting with an elephant.This is a ford and no such a river crossing anywhere else,soroundeed by Muthee trees. this route is now used to reach the Mariamman temple.:One third night,an elephant, which gave us some anxious moments. It was where the track crossed the Anaikutty River, two miles from the village, that we first met him. He had been standing under a mighty 'Muthee' tree, as motionless as a rock, and quite unnoticed by us.  As they were crossing the river, and the cart was about midway in the stream, the bulls struggling valiantly to pull the huge wheels through the soft sand, when the elephant,  came splashing at us through the water. Switching on the 'sealed-beam', KA caught him in its brilliant rays about thirty yards away. The bright beam brought him to a halt.They continued these bullock-cart prowls for the next three nights, but without success. 

An elephant on the way to Mariamman temple to Anaikatty on a Jeep's safety. "Switching on the 'sealed-beam', KA caught him in its brilliant rays about thirty yards away. The bright beam brought him to a halt.They continued these bullock-cart prowls for the next three nights, but without success".

The tragic  incident took place here.look for  Road village and FB:

 On the morning of the seventh day, the tiger killed the son of the Forest Guard stationed at Anaikutty. At 9 a.m, and in bright sunlight, he had left his hut in the village and gone a short distance up the path leading to the river and to the bungalow where Anderson lay sleeping after  nights in the cart. The boy  had gone to call his dog, which was in the habit of wandering between the village and the bungalow, less than a mile away. That boy  was never seen alive again. His father, the Forest Guard, thinking he was with KA at the bungalow, took his absence for granted. When noon came, and it was time for the midday meal, the youth had not yet appeared and the Guard decided to come to the bungalow and fetch him.

 Toda village boys  in Nilgiries

By the roadside, within a furlong of the river, the father came across his son's cap. This alarmed him, and he called aloud to the boy. Receiving no answer, he ran the remaining distance to the bungalow and awoke KA, to tell what he had found.KA picked up the rifle and accompanied the anxious father to the spot where the cap was still lying. Looking around, they found his slipper under a bush ten yards away and realised that the worst had happened.  The boy appeared to have struggled and had probably cried aloud, although none had been there to hear him, for within a few yards of where we found the slipper, the tiger had apparently laid him down and bitten him savagely.  The tiger had then proceeded with its prey, leaving a trail of blood on the ground, which gradually petered out as the blood began to coagulate. The river here turned north-west and we found that the tiger was making in its direction. Pressing forward, they  soon reached the thick jungle that clothed the river-banks, In the soft mud of the river-bank we saw the fresh pug- marks of the killer, which passed across the shallow water to the opposite bank. Here it led up the slope to the shelter of a clump of jungle-plum bushes, before which we found the lad's remains.

Anaikatty River nearby to the Forest bunglow.

 Trees and Bushes...A medium-sized 'Jumlum' tree overshadowed the plum- bush beneath which the boy lay, and on this tree KA determined to erect a machan.  Karumbas were back in under an hour with the machan, which they securely and efficiently tied in the lower branches of the 'Jumlum' tree  and soon after noon Anderson climbed into the machan in high hopes of securing a shot. Evening came, and nightfall, without a sign of the tiger.

KA would have returned to the bungalow, but  impossible owing to the swollen river, which still remained unfordable. It was past 8 o'clock next morning before  Karumbas returned, to find KA almost unconscious and still in a high fever. Somehow they got me across the river and to the bungalow, where he  spent the next forty-eight hours in bed in the grip of successive attacks of malarial chills and fever.

Machan , Forest bungalow  Rain and chilled night.

Then followed a sudden rain-storm, such as sometimes occurs in the midst of a dry summer in India.  Within a minute KA was soaked to the skin, as evaporation began in his soaking clothes and blankets, the cold became intense and unbearable.  

KA's Car parked near the  bridge ,at Vazhaithottam.That morning, KA decided to follow the course of the Segur River for some miles downstream.He  left the car at a large banana plantation and began to put this plan into effect. 

The river in a rainy  day

This must be the  swampy area 1 mile away. Hardly a mile downstream is a swampy area, much in- habited by bison in years gone by, and still locally known as 'Bison Swamp".   I think This place is near to the resorts Jungle bungalows and Wilk Creek Farm and reserve.

Probable spot according to descriptions below:
A half-mile beyond this, a large patch of dense bamboo jungle covers both banks of the stream. These bamboos have always been a favourite haunt of elephant and sambar, tiger occasionally passing through on their way down from the hills. It was 8.30 a.m., and KA had just entered the bamboos, when a sambar doe belled loudly from the opposite bank, to be taken up almost immediately by the hoarser cry of a stag. The Karumbas and KA sank to the ground among the rushes that grew profusely along the river edge at this spot. The two sambar repeated their calls in quick succession, and it was obvious that something had alarmed them. 

An impression of the Bamboo tufts along Anaikatty - Mavanahalla-Masinagudi route

They  lay in the rushes for almost ten minutes.Not a move came from any of us as the anxious moments passed and then, silently, gracefully and boldly, a tiger stepped out of cover from the opposite bamboos and glided down the steeply declining bank to the river's edge. 

Last Moments :Without hesitation The tiger walked into the river, ignored the cobbled stones, and when the water had reached his chest, he stopped and commenced lapping. Taking careful aim, KA fired behind his left shoulder. He sprang backwards, emitting a coughing-grunt, and then rolled over on his side, facing away from him and towards the bank from which tiger had just come.Running forwards out of concealment, KA  advanced some forty yards, from where he could just see a part of the side of tiger's  face, the rest having sunk below the water. File  photo John M Uscian.

  

Thus  another interesting story of Anderson, fully enjoyable for a walk back ends. I would like to inform you that, a visiting of these places for a normal person is little  difficult, because  these parts are  coming under Muthumalai Tiger Reserve and permission is needed. But with proper plannings, it's achievable. Best of luck.


Links to other blogposts related to Kenneth Anderson stories:



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