374 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURXAL 



close range, Init as he was anned with 

 only a shotgun it, would have been use- 

 less to shoot. His second view of the 

 beast was a few weeks later and in the 

 same place. I will give the story in his 

 own words : 



I selected a spot upon a hilltop and 

 cleared away the grass and ferns with a 

 jackknife for a place to tie the goat. I 

 concealed myself in the bushes ten feet away 

 to await the attack, but the unexpected hap- 

 pened and the tiger approached from the rear. 



huge cat, crouched for a spring, drew liack, 

 wavered uncertainly for a moment, and then 

 slowly slipped away into the grass. The 

 boys were saved but I had lost the oppor- 

 tunity I had sought for more than a year. 



I had again seen the animal, however, 

 aliout which so many strange tales had been 

 told. The markings of the beast are strik- 

 ingly beautiful. The ground color is of a 

 delicate shade of maltese, changing into 

 light gray-blue on the underparts. The 

 stripes are well defined and like those of the 

 ordinary yellow tiger. 



I'.iiirtesy of Marry R. Caldwell 



In the "Big Ravine" at Lungtao, where we hunted the blue tiger, the Reverend H. R. Caldwell 

 killed this four-hundred-pound animal with one shot from his .22 caliber high-power Savage rifle 



When I first saw the beast he was moving 

 stealthily along a little trail just across a 

 shallow ravine. I supposed, of course, that 

 he was trying to locate the goat, which was 

 bleating loudly, but to my horror I saw that 

 he was creeping upon two boys who had en- 

 tered the ravine to cut grass. The huge 

 brute moved along lizard-fashion for a few 

 yards and then cautiously lifted his head 

 above the grass. He was within easy spring- 

 ing distance when I raised my rifle, but 

 instantly I realized that if I wounded the 

 animal the boys would certainly meet a hor- 

 rible death. 



Tigers are usually afraid of the human 

 voice, so instead of firing I stepped from the 

 bushes yelling and waving my arms. The 



Before I left ^ew York Mr. Cald- 

 well had written repeatedly urging 

 me to stop at Fu-tsing on the way to 

 Yunnan to try with him for the blue 

 tiger which was still in the neighbor- 

 hood. I Avas decidedly skeptical as to 

 its being a distinct species, but never- 

 theless, it was a most interesting animal 

 and would certainly be well worth get- 

 ting. I believed then, and my opinion 

 has since been strengthened, that it is 

 a partly melanistic phase of the ordi- 

 nary yellow tiger. Black leopards are 

 common in India and the Malay Penin- 

 sula, and as only a single individual 



