THE TIGER 379 



There is still need of additional information as to the maximum weight 

 attained by tigers. Sanderson gave the weight of a fine male tiger killed by him- 

 self as 350 pounds; while specimens weighed by the late Sir W. Elliot weighed 

 362 and 380 pounds. Forsyth concluded, however, that some unusually large tigers, 

 which fell to his own rifle, must have weighed from 450 to 500 pounds. These 

 extreme weights have of late years, been confirmed by Mr. W.-T. Hornaday, who- 

 records a tiger measuring 9 feet 1 1 % inches in length, of which the weight was 

 upwards of 495 pounds. The Maharaja of Kuch-Behar has killed tigers which are 

 stated to have varied from 481 to 540 pounds ; and one shot by Mr. F. Shillingford, 

 of which the length was 9 feet 10 inches, weighed a little over 520 pounds. The 

 weight of a tiger depends, of course, largely upon the condition of the animal at the 

 time of its death ; arid if a specimen under 10 feet in length will turn the scale at 

 over 500 pounds, it may be taken as certain that those of n or 12 feet in equally 

 good condition must reach considerably heavier weights. 



Although mainly, if not entirely, confined to Asia, the tiger has an extensive 

 geographical distribution on that continent and its islands. To the westward its 

 range appears to be limited by the mountains of Ararat and the Caucasus, whence 

 it extends along the southern shores of the Caspian the ancient Hyrcania into 

 Northern Persia, the Herat district, and thence into Turkestan. Thence it ranges 

 over a large portion of Central Asia, embracing Southern Siberia, to a line some 

 distance north of Irkutsk, and the whole of Mongolia as far eastward as- Amur- 

 land and the island of Saghalien. And its fossil remains have been obtained, in 

 company with those of the mammoth, from the New Siberian islands lying some 

 distance within the Artie Circle. From Mongolia the range of the tiger extends 

 southward through China to Burma, Siam, and the Malay Peninsula ; and it also 

 embraces the islands of Sumatra and Java, but not, it is said, Borneo. Across the 

 Assam district, at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal, the tiger ranges into 

 India, where it is found from Cape Comorin to the Himalayas ; although quite un- 

 known in the island of Ceylon. The whole of the elevated plateau of Tibet forms, 

 however, an island in its distributional area into which the tiger does not intrude. 

 And, as we learn from Mr. Blanford, it is equally unknown in Afghanistan and 

 Baluchistan, as well as in that portion of Persia lying to the southward of the 

 Elburz mountains. From this extensive distribution it is evident that the popular 

 idea of regarding the tiger as a tropical animal is quite erroneous. And it is even 

 doubtful in spite of the world -wide reputation of the Bengal tiger whether 

 those inhabiting the warmer regions are its most magnificent examples. In spite of 

 this, the tiger is so intimately associated with and characteristic of India, that it 

 will always and rightly be regarded as the special emblem of that country. 

 Mr. Bland ford believes that the absence of the tiger from Ceylon may be taken as 

 an indication that the animal is a comparatively recent immigrant into Southern 

 India, since most of the other Indian Mammals are found on both sides of the 

 straits of Palk. 



Although in some of the more thickly populated districts of India especially 

 those well supplied with railroads, such as parts of Bengal, the Central Provinces, 

 and Bombay, tigers have greatly decreased in numbers, or have well-nigh or com- 



