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THE TIGER. yi 
times ; it then becomes louder and mcre rapid, and finishes 
with three or four repetitions of the latter portion. When the 
animal is suddenly disturbed or surprised, it utters a loud, sharp 
wuf ; when provoked, a growl is emitted ; while, in charging, it 
gives vent to a peculiar gutteral sound, repeated two or three 
times. It iscommonly supposed that when a Tiger is suddenly 
disturbed by the sportsman, it promptly goes for him forthwith. 
This, however, is a mistake; and if a Tiger has time to collect 
its thoughts and see a way of escape, it will promptly avail 
itself of the same. Generally, however, the animal is as much 
surprised as the intruder, or even more so; and as the way by 
which the latter has entered is usually the most obvious road 
of escape, the Tiger rushes headlong, with a cry of rage, along 
the path, not unfrequently with only too disastrous results to 
the unfortunate sportsman. 
In the work already quoted, Sir J. Fayrer observes that ‘‘ the 
Tiger seems to be particular about the state of his claws; they 
are always kept sharp and polished, carefully protected within 
the sheath of integument, and are kept from contact with the 
ground, and thus remain pointed and clean, being very formid- 
able weapons, with which fearful wounds are inflicted. Probably 
it is to keep them in order, clean and bright, that the Tiger is 
so fond of scratching the bark of trees ; and their deep vertical 
scorings, up to a height of ten or twelve feet, are often seen on 
the Indian fig or other tree. They have favourites which they 
select or set apart for this purpose, and the scorings are very 
deep and numerous. I remember a /icuws venosa by the side 
of a nutswamp in Parneah, under whose shade I have often 
rested in the middle of a hot day’s Tiger-shooting. It stood 
alone, and was evidently a favourite resort of the Tigers, for it 
was deeply and numerously scored by their claws. 
“Tigers do not, as a general rule, climb trees; but when 
pressed by fear, as during an inundation, or when no other 
