258 USEFULNESS OF TIGERS AND PANTHERS. 



— that attack the sources of subsistence ; and these are only to be kept in 

 check by the animals appointed to prey upon them. Were the tiger and 

 panther gone they would soon gain the upper hand. Many cases have 

 come under my notice where the tiger has proved himself the ryot's friend 

 in a particular manner, in addition to his general services. I was once 

 talking with an old ryot about some new cultivation he had pushed ahead 

 of the other ryots' holdings into the jungle, and asking after its welfare. He 

 said, " As soon as the crop was above ground some village-cattle that had 

 broken from their pen strayed into it at night, but a tiger killed a bullock 

 there belonging to the headman, worth at least Es. 20 (£2), so the others 

 took better care of their cattle. I could not have watched my field or gone 

 to the expense of putting up a hedge the first year. The other ryots' 

 holdings were all in a block, so a few hedges and watchmen sufficed for 

 them, but I had to trust to the tigers. I put up scarecrows for deer and 

 pig, but that did not keep them out long. However, the tiger and a panther 

 killed two or three pigs, and they gave up visiting my field. I got a 

 moderate crop, and am going to clear more ground this hot weather, and 

 next year will be able to fence it." When it is considered that it is of such 

 units that the vast total of Indian tillage is made up, the importance of the 

 question of keeping destructive animals in check must be recognised. In 

 many cases I have known of tigers pouncing upon a sow with young pigs 

 and demolishing the whole family ; and the sportsman will have occasional 

 instances of their vigilance in finding his wounded game retrieved during 

 the night by a tiger or panther. 



It may be urged that were the tigers disposed of, the pig and deer could 

 be left for the ryots ; but this is mere theory, all practical sportsmen being 

 agreed that deer and pig could never be kept within bounds except by the 

 Felidce. In thick, thorny, and continuous jungles they cannot be got at, and 

 they would multiply unrestrictedly, and force upon the ryots the arduous 

 work of watching their fields at night in unhealthy localities where the tiger 

 and panther now keep the game in check. Cultivation would recede in 

 many parts of the country were there no tigers. The balance of nature 

 cannot be interfered with with impunity, and a general crusade against 

 hawks, wild cats, et hoc genus omne, might be preached with as much reason 

 on the ground of their abducting stray chickens, though keeping down 

 destructive vermin at other times, as against the tiger for appropriating an 

 occasional bullock. Of course all tigers are fair game to the sportsman ; 

 they can never be unduly reduced by shooting. The most destructive cattle- 

 killers — the animals that it is desirable to get rid of — are those which, from 

 being most easily met with, are sure to fall first ; but for people who have 



