Indian impressions regarding the Habits of certain Animals. 171 

 On native impressions regarding the Natural History ■ 



OF CERTAIN [InDIAN] AnIMALS. .)« 



By U. Torrens, Esa., B.A., V.P. As. Soc. Bengal*. l 



The singular impressions current among natives even of the 

 iiighest rank, as to the habits and nature of certain animals, are not 

 undeserving of record. It is rarely that the credence of the nar- 

 rators in these things can be elicited, if even they go so far as to 

 mention the existence of the belief; for they dread the ridicule as 

 much as they anticipate the incredulity of a European : consequently 

 these strange stories are but imperfectly known, even to the best 

 informed among us in such legends. I mention one or two, with the 

 circumstances of my acquaintance with them. 



While out tiger-shooting with a party of Musulman gentlemen, I 

 was asked, in a confidential way, whether 1 had ever seen the 

 Phnew : I spell the word with the almost undescribable nasal aspi- 

 rate with which it was invariably pronounced to me. With an air 

 of grave and serious interest, which is the best way of inspiring 

 confidence, I replied, that the nature of the thing or being was 

 unknown to me, and I requested information on the subject. On 

 this there was a little hesitation, when, after a time, it was explained, 

 that as I had seen more of Tigers than my companions, they fancied 

 I might have also seen or heard something of the animal that always 

 preceded the Tiger, called Phnew, from the ceaseless iteration of a 

 sound similar to its name. I required further enlightenment as to 

 this creature, when I found it was a " something that preceded the 

 Tiger by six cubits, wherever he went, making the noise ' phnew ' 

 without end, looking for things for it." The old tales of " the 

 Lion and his provider''^ recurred to me at once, and I bethought me 

 of the hospitality of some cat-like sound of Felis Tigris having led, 

 during his nightly search for prey, to the creation of the story. I 

 have done all I could, but in vain, to discover whether there were 

 real grounds for the belief, based on such a habit of the animal. I 

 killed several Tigers in company with my friends afterwards, but 

 though we found no Phnew with any of them, the silent faith of my 

 believers in the marvellous has remained unshaken as to the existence 

 of the mysterious animal. I subsequently learned that there is in 

 Bengal a like belief respecting it among the Hindus, who term the 

 creature Ghc'tgf. 



There are few Englishmen in India who have not perhaps heard 

 some of the strange talcs related by the natives regarding Serpents. 

 The most remarkable to me has always been the belief in the Raj 

 Samp, or King-snake, who is represented as belonging to a superior 

 order of Serpent, as exacting homage and obedience from his ophite 

 subjects, and sometimes, as appearing with the semblance of a crown, 

 the type of his authority. I was one day in company with a number 



* Extracted from the Journal As. Soc. Bengal for 1849. By Frederic Moore, 

 t According to Babu Rajeudralal Mittra, the Hindus distingiush theGhog as a 

 different animal from the P'heu.—Edw. Blyth, Esq. 



