CHAPTER XVIII. 

 THE TXGX5R. 



" The tiger, darting fierce 



Impetuous on the prey his glance has doom'd." THOMSON. 



IN our progressive view of ferocious quadrupeds, we are now 

 to proceed to the contemplation of the tiger, one of the most 

 beautiful, but at the same time one of the most rapacious and 

 destructive of the whole animal race. Its propensities, however, 

 show how little a mischievous disposition can be compensated 

 by a beautiful form. 



This animal has an insatiable thirst after blood; and even 

 when satiated with food, is not satisfied with slaughter, but, dis- 

 playing the genuine characteristics of consummate and innate 

 malignity, continues its ravages until objects whereon it may 

 exercise its fury., can no longer be found. 



Happily for the rest of the animal race, as well as for man- 

 kind, this destructive quadruped is not very common, nor the 

 species widely diffused ; being confined to the warm climates of 

 the east, especially India and Siam, although some are found as 

 far north as China. No part of the world, however, is so much 

 infested with tigers as India, nor any part of India so much as 

 the province of Bengal, of which the southern part, towards the 

 mouths of the Ganges, forming a vast labyrinth of woody islands, 

 called the Sunderbunds, may be called the great rendezvous of 

 those destructive animals. This extensive wilderness, according 

 to Major Rennel, is so covered with wood, and infested with 

 tigers, that no attempts have ever been made to clear and settle 

 it ; and, indeed, an enterprise of this kind would, in the opinion 

 of those who are best acquainted with the country, be extremely 

 dangerous, and almost impracticable. 



The tiger generally grows to a larger size than the leopard or 

 the panther, though somewhat more slender in proportion to its 

 height and length ; and its form so completely resembles that of 

 a cat, as almost to induce us to consider the latter animal as a 

 tiger in miniature. The most striking difference which is observed 

 between the tiger and the other mottled animals of the cat kind, 

 consists in the different marks on the skin. The panther, the 

 leopard, &c. are spotted, but the tiger is ornamented with long 

 streaks quite across its body, instead of spots. The ground 

 colour, in those of the most beautiful kind, is yellow, very deep 

 on the back, but growing lighter towards the belly, where it 

 softens to white, as also on the throat and insides of the legs. 



