Nov. 7. 1878] 



NATURE 



ii 



that they are degenerating, as I have not shot large ones 

 for several years : or it may be that there is a keener set 

 of sportsmen now-a-days, and no sooner is a tiger heard 

 of than he is shot. The tigresses are seldom over 

 8 feet, though I have known some that attained 9 

 feet to 9 feet 6 inches. Gumming says he has seen 

 the claw-marks of a tiger on a tree 1 8 feet high. The 

 men who are difficult to convince about the large tigers 

 are those who have shot them in hills and rocky places, 

 and those tigers are of a different class and seldom grow 

 large." 



Major Bradford, C.S.I. , of the Political Service, says: 

 " 10 feet 5 inches was the largest tiger I ever saw ; but I 

 sent the question to Martin and inclose his reply and the 

 inclosures to it. I remember hearing of the immense 

 tiger White speaks of." 



Col. C. Martin, C.I. Horse, says he shot a tiger at Putul- 

 ghur 10 feet in length, and alludes to a large tiger shot 

 near Goona by Mr. White, which was measured by Mr. 

 Angelo, and is described as follows by the latter gentle- 

 man : "lean remember, beyond all doubt, the length 

 was 12 feet 4 inches from tip of nose to tip of tail ; 2 feet 

 2 inches from ear to ear ! The direct breadth of wrist 

 8 inches, spread of foot 10 inches, heel to withers 4 feet, 

 and the tail was 3 feet in length." 



These measurements were recorded in the Delhi 

 Gazette, but there is some doubt as to their accuracy ; 

 so that they may hardly be regarded as proving more 

 than that the tiger was a very large one. Col. Martin 

 says, in a subsequent letter, " W.'s tiger, which I had 

 always thought 12 feet 4 inches, is no longer to be relied on 

 for scientific inquirj^, though it probably exceeded 10 feet." 



Lieut. James Ferris, B. Army, says : " I have had a good 

 deal of experience, as I have shot in the Central Provinces, 

 and for several years in Oude and Nepal. The largest tiger 

 I know of was shot by Wilkinson, in 1873, ii^ Mepal, he 

 measured 10 feet 4 inches from tip of nose to tip of tail. 

 Wilkinson, who has shot more tigers than most men in 

 India, told me this was the largest he had ever seen ; the 

 largest tiger I ever shot myself I got the same season in 

 Nepal ; he measured 10 feet 2 inches —he was considered 

 a monster. The tigers in Lower Bengal may be larger, 

 but in the Central Provinces they are certainly smaller ; it 

 depends a great deal on how the tiger is measured." 



Gen. Ramsay, Bengal Army, says : "The largest tiger 

 I ever saw I shot in conjunction with Col. Stewart, a fine 

 old sportsman, who died many years ago at Benares. 

 The tiger was not found for some days, when he was dis- 

 covered dying from loss of blood and starvation. The 

 skin was removed, and measured 12 feet from the nose 

 to end of tail." This skin was no doubt stretched. "A 

 tiger of 10 feet 6 inches is a very fair sized tiger. Tigresses 

 seldom grow so large." General Ramsay adds: "My 

 friend Col. H. Shakspeare writes me that * the two 

 largest tigers he ever killed were, when brought in and 

 measured, 1 1 feet 8 inches and 1 1 feet 6 inches respec- 

 tively — the latter a tigress.' He does not think he has 

 ever seen larger ones. There probably are tigers that 

 measure 12 feet or more, but they would be very rare." 



Mr. F. Buckland has kindly given me the following 

 extract from his " Curiosities," 1866, in regard to a tiger 

 shot by Col. Ramsay, who says that he and Major B. 

 shot a tiger at Huldwana, in the Kumaon Terai, that they 

 estimated to be about twelve years of age, and was of the 

 following dimensions : — f^ 



Length from nose to end of tail ... ... 12 



M of tail 3 



Height from heel to shoulder 3 



Girth of body behind shoulder ... ... ... 5 3 



,, forearm ... ... ... ... 2 loj 



,, neck ... ... ... ... ... 3 7 



From ear to ear ... ... ... ... ... i 64 



Length of upper canines ... ... ... 03 



,, lower ,, ... ... ... o i| 



,, claws ... ... ... ... ... o 3 



in. 

 o 

 9 

 7 



On referring to some of my own tiger shooting notes I 

 find that I have recorded the following measurements : — 



Oude Terai, 1855 



ft. in. 



Tiger 



Tigress, very large, pr^pant with five cubs, 

 measurement not preserved. 



Tiger ... ... ... ... 



Tigress, large, but measvurement lost 



Tiger 



Tigress 



10 o 



9 o 

 8 10 

 8 II 



8 9 

 5 9 



9 7 

 9 " 



10. Tiger, cub 



II- „ 



12. „ 



Oude Teiai, 1857 



13. Tigi-ess 



14. Tiger 



15. Tigress, \\-ith three cubs 



16. Tiger ... 



17. Tigress ... 



18. „ 



19. Tiger ... 



20. Tigress, ver)- large, pulled G. 's elephant down, 



lost measurement. 



21. Tiger killed in Hangua (drive) from a tree, very large. 



Maldah, Bengal, 1870 



22. Tigress ) 

 23- .. ) 



... 8 o 



... 8 3 



... 8 10 



Lost measurement. 



ditto. 



ditto. 



ditto. 



Measurements lost. 



24. Tiger 



25. Tigress 



26. Tiger ... 



27. Tigress 



28. „ ) 



29. M \ 

 30- M J 



.^i. Tiger ... 



32. Tigress 



33" »» 



34- 



35* >» 



Ulvmr 



Ptimcah, Bengal, 1869 



Purneah, 187 1 



Oude attd Nepal, 187 1 



Measurement lost. 



... 8 2 

 ... 10 o 

 ... 8 7 



Measurement lost. 



... 10 8 



9 o 



7 6 

 7 8 



8 9 



9 7 

 5 5 

 5 H 

 8 7 



8 6 



9 6 

 8 8 



10 6 



7 o 



36. Tigress 



37- Tiger 



38. Cub 



39- M 



40. Tigfress ... ... 



41- .. 



42. Tiger ... 



43. Tigress 



44. Tiger 



45- .. , 



46. Small cub 



47. Tiger 9 4 



48. Tigress (I killed her with a single bullet in 



the neck) 8 n 



49. f Her ) 6 11 



50. \ three [ 6 5 



51. (cubs. ) 6 10 



These are all the notes I can lay my hands on at pre- 

 sent. The largest tiger was 10 feet 8 inches, the largest 

 tigress, 9 feet. Both were Bengal Purneah tigers. 

 My own experience, therefore, confirms so much of 

 Jerdon's estimate as that the tiger averages from 9 to 9} 

 feet, the tigress between 8 and 9 feet ; but that which he 

 and others doubt, viz., that tigers do occasionally attain 

 the length of upwards of 10 feet 3 inches and even 11 feet 

 or 12 feet, and the tigress up to 10 feet or even more, is 



