158 



LETTER XXVIU. 



" The tygcr darting fierce 

 Impeluous on the prey hib glance has dooin'd." 



DEAR SIR, 



X'N our progressive view of ferocious quadrupeds, we 

 are now to proceed to the contemplation of the tygeiy 

 one of the most beautiful, but at the same time one of. 

 the. most rapacious and destructive of the whole ani- 

 mal race. Its propensities, however-, shew how little 

 a mischievous disposition can be compensated by a 

 beautiful form. 



This animal has an insatiable thirst after blood ; 

 and even when satiated with food, is not satisfied with 

 slaughter, but displaying the genuine characteristics 

 of consummate and innate malignity, continues its ra- 

 vages until objects whereon it may exercise its fury* 

 can no longer be found. 



. Happily for the rest of the animal race, as well as 

 for mankind, this destructive quadruped is not very 

 common, nor the species widely diffused; being con- 

 fined to the warm climates of the east, especially In- 

 dia and Siam, although some are found as far north as 

 China. No part of the world, however, is so much 

 infested with tygers as India, nor any part of India so 

 much as the province of Bengal, of which the 

 southern part towards the mouths of the Ganges, form- 

 ing a vast labyrinth of woody islands, called the Sun- 

 derbunds, may be called the great rendezvous of 

 those destructive animals. This extensive wilderness, 

 according to Major Rennel, is so covered with wood. 

 and infested with tygers, that no attempts have ever 

 been made to clear and settle it; and, indeed, an en- 

 terprise of this kind would, in the opinion of those 

 who are best acquainted with the country, be ex- 

 tremely dangerous, and almost impracticable. 



The tyger generally grows to a larger size than the 



