388 



THE CARNIVORES 



All who have had to do with them are unanimous as to the extreme wariness 

 and caution of man-eaters, which from this cause are the most difficult to kill of all 

 tigers. The slightest rustle or whisper on the part of the pursuer is, according to 

 Mr. Sanderson, sufficient to put the man-eater on its guard ; and it is marvelous 

 with what sagacity these animals distinguish between an armed sportsman and a 

 helpless unarmed native. " The man-eater," says Sir Samuel Baker, " will seize an 

 unsuspecting native by the neck, and will then drag the body to some retreat in 

 which it can devour its prey in undisturbed security. Having consumed the hind- 



THE STRUGGLE IN THE STREAM. 



quarters, thighs, and more fleshy portions it will probably leave the body, andwill 

 never return again to the carcass, but will seek a fresh victim, perhaps at some 

 miles' distance, in the neighborhood of another village. ' ' 



Formerly, before European sportsmen armed with rifles had access to most 

 parts of the country by means of railways, whole districts in India were either 

 depopulated or deserted owing to the ravages of man-eaters ; and the sites of 

 hamlets abandoned from this cause are still visible in the jungles. Not unfrequently, 

 however, the cunning and Caution of the man-eater baffles, at least for a time, all 



