My companion on the rock was very relieved to see me. My long absence, and the growling he had heard, had convinced him that the tigress had secured another kill, and his difficulty, as he quite frankly admitted, was how he was going to get back to the village alone.
I thought when we were climbing down the watercourse that I knew of no more dangerous proceeding than walking in front of a nervous man carrying a loaded gun, but I changed my opinion when on walking behind him he slipped and fell, and I saw where the muzzle of his gun--a converted .450 without a safety catch--was pointing. Since that day--except when accompanied by Ibbotson--I have made it a hard-and-fast rule to go alone when hunting man-eater, for if one's companion is unarmed it is difficult to protect him; and if he is armed, it is even more difficult to protect oneself.
Arrived at the crest of the hill, where the man had hidden his boots, I sat down to have a smoke and think out my plans for the morrow.
The tigress would finish what was left of the kill during the night, and would to a certainty lie up among the rocks next day.
On the ground she was on. There was very little hope of my being able to stalk her, and if I disturbed her without getting a shot, she would probably leave the locality and I should lose touch with her. A beat therefore was the only thing to do, provided I could raise sufficient men.
I was sitting on the south edge of a great amphitheatre of hills, without a habitation of any kind in sight. A stream entering from the west had fretted its way down, cutting a deep valley right across the amphitheatre. To the east the stream had struck solid rock, and turning north had left the amphitheatre by a narrow gorge.
Why did the narrator decide that a beat was the only thing to do?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → There was very little hope of his being able to stalk the tigress.
The narrator explains that on the rocky ground the tigress had chosen "There was very little hope of my being able to stalk her", and if he disturbed her without getting a shot she would leave the locality. A beat therefore was the only thing to do. (A beat is a hunt in which a line of men drives the animal towards the waiting hunter.)
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: He was too tired to walk any further. — Incorrect. Not mentioned: he sat down at the crest of the hill to smoke and plan for the next day; the passage says nothing about tiredness.
Option 3: His companion refused to go back to the village alone. — Incorrect. Overstated: the companion was only worried about going back alone; this has nothing to do with the plan for the beat.
Option 4: The tigress had already left the locality. — Incorrect. Contradicted: the narrator expects her to finish the kill and lie up among the rocks next day; leaving the locality is only what he fears she might do if disturbed.
Note: The actual question was dropped by NTA. For the benefit of the students and to give additional practice, the original question has been replaced with a new question.