TIGERS. 181 



taken from Captain Williamson's Oriental Field Sports. 

 This officer had two tiger cubs brought to him, which 

 had been discovered, with two more, by some villagers, 

 while their mother had been in quest of prey. The 

 Captain put them into a stable, where they were very 

 noisy during the night. A few days having elapsed, 

 their mother at length discovered where they were, camo 

 to relieve them, and replied to their cries by tremendous 

 howlings, which induced their keeper to set the cubs at 

 liberty, lest the dam should break in. She had carried 

 them off to an adjoining jungle before morning. 



Bishop Heber happily compares the slight movement 

 of the long grass of the jungle, which betrays the pre- 

 sence of the tiger, to the bubbles which rise to the sur- 

 face of water, and show the lurking-place of the otter. 



The immense strength of the tiger is frequently 

 shown by the manner in which he throws his prey 

 over his shoulder, and conveys it to his lair to be 

 devoured. One is said to have carried a buffalo in 

 this manner, which weighed a thousand pounds. Cap- 

 tain Brown gives the following account of the innate 

 love of flesh displayed by the tiger: C A party of 

 gentlemen from Bombay, one day visiting the stupen- 

 dous temple of Elephanta, discovered a tiger's whelp 

 in one of the obscure recesses. Desirous of kidnap- 

 ping the cub without encountering the fury of its dam, 

 they took it up hastily and cautiously retreated. Being 

 left entirely at liberty and extremely well fed, the tiger 

 grew rapidly, appeared tame, and in every respect 

 domesticated. At length, when it had attained a 

 great size, and, notwithstanding its apparent gentle- 

 ness, began to inspire terror by its tremendous powers 

 of doing mischief, a piece of raw meat, dripping with 



