185 



"ing the animals to whom this title applies, as we have been 

 " able to collect or have occurred to us in our wanderings 

 " over Southern India. The poachers are, first the " Tiger ;" 

 " then, the " Leopard ;" and last, though not least, the " Wild 

 " Dog." We will take them in the above order and commence 

 " with 



THE TIGER. 



" Of late years, tigers are more numerous on these mountains 

 " than in former times ; or, at any rate, they are oftener seen. 

 " This may arise from the increase of inhabitants, travellers, 

 " and sportsmen resorting to various parts of the hills that 

 " formerly were left unexplored. It may also be attributable 

 " to the clearings in the valleys below, having driven game of 

 " all kinds to the summits, and in some degree to the increase 

 " of the herds of cattle roaming over the country, affording as they 

 " do an easy prey to this universal marauder. Whatever the 

 " cause, there can be no doubt that where one tiger was 

 " met with many years since, two or even three will be found 

 11 now-a-days. My own experience quite proves this ; for fifteen 

 " years ago, when constantly wandering over the same haunts 

 "I have been visiting during my present sojourn here, I fell 

 " in with only three tigers in twelve months ; and latterly, during 

 " a like period, I have come across ten at least, many more having 

 " been seen during the same time by a fellow sportsman. Besides 

 " those seen, many pass unobserved ; the marvellous quickness 

 " of this animal's sight enables him to detect the sportsman 

 " five times out of six, without the latter being aware of the 

 " tiger's presence ; it is very rarely indeed that this keen-sighted 

 " animal is caught unawares. It does, of course, happen at times ; 

 " but very seldom, especially in the open. I have been told of 

 " instances where tigers have been killed while asleep, but these 

 " occurred in parts of the country where they were seldom 

 " disturbed ; up here they are peculiarly alive to danger, and 

 " generally speaking, are considered less bold than their confreres 

 " in the plains below, skulking away from the presence of 

 u man in a very ignominious manner. Man-eaters on these hills 

 " are rare, the only case of one that I can call to mind happened 



24 



