96 



THE BEASTS OF PREY. 



We have an immense stock of information con- 

 cerning the life and habits of Tigers, owing to the 

 usually simple mode of hunting them. The number 

 of people addicted to this sport is very great, com- 

 prising even ladies, and the old, terrible stories have 

 lost much credence. It is no longer difficult for 

 us to separate extraordinary from everyday occur- 

 rences. 



The character and disposition of Tigers vary in 

 individuals, as might be expected ; yet, according to 

 the best authorities, there are in the main three 

 classes of Tigers : those that kill forest animals, 

 those that carry away cattle, and Man-eaters. 



The Game-Hunt- A Tiger of the first group shuns the 

 ing Tiger's dwellings of Man, for his real home 

 Habits. j s ; n the wilderness, where he prowls 



around at all hours of the day and night. He natu- 

 rally leads more of a roaming life than the others 

 and follows his game from one part of the country to 

 another in the course of the seasons. To the sports- 

 man he proves a most welcome rival, but to the 

 agriculturist he is a good friend, as he drives away 

 Stags and Wild Boars, from whose depradations it is 

 so difficult to protect the fields. These game-killing 

 Tigers as a rule are more slender and agile than the 

 others, though they also boast among their numbers 

 some of more massive build. They are by far the 

 most numerous class of Tigers, and during the hot- 

 test and dryest season they gather near the water- 

 courses that have not given out. 



The Cattle- Those Tigers that carry away cattle pre- 



Stealing fer the neighborhood of villages and 

 Tigers. seek their prey among the herds that 

 are driven to pasturage, or among such stragglers as 

 may be left out for a night. As owners of flocks 

 usually lock them up in secure places before dusk 

 the rapacious Tiger accustoms himself to get his 

 food by broad daylight, usually in the latter part of 

 the afternoon. If he is not pursued, he frequents 

 but a few villages ; if threatened he extends his wan- 

 derings. In Maisur, in a stretch of country twenty- 

 five miles long and thirty-seven miles wide, eight 

 well-known Tigers at one time made their living in 

 this way. Of course they also kill Goats, Sheep, 

 Donkeys, Stags, Boars and other game if it crosses 

 their path. ■ An exclusive robber of Cattle is found 

 only among the old, fat and lazy Tigers. Such 

 robbers select as their headquarters some locality 

 abundantly supplied with flesh and water. They 

 establish relations of mutual tolerance with the 

 human inhabitants of the village, and every four or 

 five days each Tiger seizes and bears to his lair an 

 unfortunate Cow or Bull. 



We must not take our Cattle as a standard and 

 thereby measure the damage that is done. The 

 Hindoo never kills a Cow, and so there are in every 

 village a multitude of old, decrepit beasts that do 

 more harm than good, because they aid in spread- 

 ing the Cattle plague, and these are really best dis- 

 posed of as Tiger-food. Without the aid of Tigers 

 in destroying Boars and Deer, it would be utterly 

 impossible in certain districts to obtain good har- 

 vests. That is why agriculturists are not greatly 

 pleased, when a sportsman zealously hunts the 

 game-killing and modest Cattle-robbing Tigers, 

 for they serve them as field guards in a certain 

 way. Sanderson once killed a well-known, gigantic 

 Tiger, and the natives, surrounding the corpse, 

 unanimously mourned over his fate ; " He never did 

 us any harm; what a pity he is dead," they said. 



The Man- The Man-eater usually begins by carry- 

 Eating j n g ff Cattle, and loses his dread' of Man 

 Tiger. ^y constant contact with shepherds. Of- 

 tener the Man-eater is a female than a male, prob- 

 ably because she has to care for her little ones; and 

 sometimes it is a wounded or crippled specimen, 

 which cannot support itself in the usual way. Man 

 can be watched and attacked so much more easily 

 than any tame or wild 'animal, that a Tiger which 

 has once lost the fear of him accepts him as lawful 

 prey, wherever it can safely do so. This has led to 

 the belief that the Tiger prefers human flesh to any 

 other ; but this is refuted by main' authentic ac- 

 counts, as also is the belief that the Man-eating 

 Tiger as a rule is a lean, half-starved creature. 



Man-eating Tigers are said to predominate in 

 those parts of the country where herds of Cattle 

 are pastured at certain seasons of the year ; after 

 their departure the Cattle-robbing beasts are com- 

 pelled from lack of other food to attack the natives. 

 The Man-eater does not display any greater courage 

 than other Tigers. He is as cowardly as he is cun- 

 ning and surprisingly impudent. Running from 

 armed Men, he only attacks those who are alone 

 and defenceless, fully appreciating as he does the 

 difference between the two. In consequence of his 

 Man-hunting habits he is better acquainted with the 

 ways of Men and is therefore much harder to be 

 reached by the sportsman than other Tigers. 



Pleas on Sanderson says : " This dreadful plague 



Behalf of of the timid and weaponless Hindoo is 



the Tiger, becoming rare. Man-eating Tigers of 

 the worst character are now seldom heard of, and 

 when they are they are soon hunted down and killed. 



" It is a pity that the Tiger is doomed and is be- 

 ing exterminated in most unsportsmanlike manner. 

 The cause of this lies in the hue and cry, raised 

 mainly in England, over the mischief he does. This 

 belief is without foundation. Let every Man-eating 

 Tiger be pursued and killed ; likewise slay the worst 

 among the Cattle-robbers; but ordinary Tigers are use- 

 ful, they are not dangerous and ought to be spared. 

 Distant be the day when there will be no more 

 Tigers." This explorer is superintendent of the 

 government department for the capture of Elephants 

 and his profession compels him to live in the wilder- 

 ness among wild beasts. lie has an intimate knowl- 

 edge of every portion of India, its needs and its 

 dangers, and is therefore a most competent judge. 

 His conclusions may well cause serious reflection, 

 especially as they are held by other trustworthy ob- 

 servers. Sherwill says very positively : "The Ben- 

 gal Tiger is, on the whole, a harmless, timid animal, 

 only becoming dangerous when he is wounded. He 

 never molests Men, unless driven to bay, and Man- 

 eating Tigers are not found at all in Bengal, except 

 in the marshy forests of the Ganges delta." Fayrer, 

 who appreciates the cruelty of the Tiger, declares 

 that accidents are no more frequent on a Tiger-hunt 

 than in the following of the Fox in England. 



Thus it is shown that this generation has a differ- 

 ent estimate of the Tiger than was held by our fore- 

 fathers. He is a beast of prey which, in many dis- 

 tricts, at least of India, does more good than harm, 

 and only upon rare occasions does he become that 

 embodiment of terror which has given a formidable 

 reputation to the whole species. 



How the Rarely does the Tiger or the Lion hunt 

 Tiger Hunts prey in the manner that has been usu- 



His Prey. ally accepted as correct; that is, as if 

 he measured the distance, crouched down and reached 



