Chapter XLIX. 



TIGERS. 



There is no need to tell the old China hand that there 

 are tigers in the Celestial Empire, and plenty of them, though 

 to this day, except in the travelled classes and amongst those 

 with time to devote to sport, the great majority of foreigners 

 are not a little surprised to hear that there are tigers any- 

 where except in India and its immediate surroundings. The 

 old notion that the tiger is essentially an animal of the tropics 

 has been hard to eradicate, whereas the truth is, in all pro- 

 bability, that '"Stripes" is comparatively a recent intruder 

 into India from cooler parts of the continent. Even yet he 

 has not succeeded in getting into Ceylon. Certain it is 

 that he "feels the heat" as much as any foreigner, so much 

 so that he will lower himself, during the hot season and in 

 the hope of getting cool, to such an extent as to wallow like 

 a water buffalo in shallow pools and marshy mud, a thing 

 which in cooler climes no self-respecting tiger would ever 

 think of doing. As a matter of fact the tiger is known from 

 the southern slopes of the Caucasus right across the continent 

 to the shores of Sakhalin, with the exception of the higher 

 portions of the Tibetan plateau where, either because the 

 cover is insufficient or the food supply scarce, the royal 

 beast is not to be found. And I have been assured, by men 

 who ought to know, that the finest of all the family are not 

 those of the scorching plains and tropical jungles of India, 

 but those of northern Korea, Manchuria, and South Siberia. 

 An old friend of mine who was accustomed, in addition to 

 other business, to buy all the tiger skins he could lay hands 

 on, used to point with much pride to a skin which served for 

 his private office hearth rug. It was, he said, the largest he 

 had ever seen, and it measured 13ft. 3in. This is a matter 

 which will have to be considered later. I mention it here 

 because this particular skin was from a northern animal, 

 either Manchurian or Siberian. 



To the Chinese, naturally, the tiger has been known for 

 ages. I do not remember any reference to, or description 

 of, the tiger in either of the books of Confucius or Mencius, 

 but the " Book of Odes," the Shi Kiiii^, which is older than 

 either, has numerous references to that animal. An officer 



