point of vantage the gunner can see without being seen and, thoroughly
protected from all danger, he may amuse himself by comparing the success
of his shooting with the hollow Express or with the solid bullet at the
animals that pass within his range, which means a limit of about 50
yards. I contend that at the short distance named; a tiger should NEVER
escape from a solid bullet; he often escapes from the hollow bullet for
several reasons.

It must be remembered that animals are rarely seen distinctly in a thick
jungle, countless twigs and foliage intercept the bullet, and the view,
although patent to both open eyes, becomes misty and obscure when you
shut one eye and squint along the barrel. You then discover that
although you can see the dim shadow of your game, your bullet will have
to cut its way through at least twenty twigs before it can reach its
goal. A solid bullet may deflect slightly, but it will generally deliver
its message direct, unless the opposing objects are more formidable than
ordinary small branches. A hollow bullet from an Express rifle will fly
into fragments should it strike a twig the size of the little finger.
This is quite sufficient to condemn the hollow projectile without any
further argument.

While writing the above, I have received the Pioneer, 24th June 1888,
which gives the following account of an escape from a tiger a few weeks
ago by Mr. Cuthbert Fraser, and no better example could be offered to
prove the danger of a hollow bullet. It will be seen that a solid bullet
would have killed the tiger on the spot, as it would have penetrated to
the brain, instead of which it broke into the usual fragments when
striking the hard substance of the teeth, and merely destroyed one eye.
The bullet evidently splashed up without breaking the jaw, as the
wounded animal was not only capable of killing the orderly, but Mr.