^popular JDtrttnuarn of gmmatrtr $ature. 685 



" It would appear that the Tiger, either 

 from the distance of his leap or the hard 

 ness of the soldier's cartouch box, fortunately 

 missed his hold, and seized him after he had 

 knocked him down, by his clothes, the car- 

 j touch box saving him from being bitten. 

 ! But I nm convinced that never did any man, 

 ! if we take into consideration the distance he 

 I was carried before he released himself, and 

 ! the circumstance of his being wounded by 

 1 the ball intended for the tiger, which di- 

 rected us what road to follow, more pro- 

 videntially escape to all appearance an in- 

 1 evitable death." 



The annexed " Tiger adventure " some 

 1 years since appeared in the Literary Gazette, 

 to which journal it was sent by an Indian 

 correspondent. As it contains a mixture of 

 the marvellous with what, at a distance, 

 appears more ludicrous than tragical, it may 

 serve, perhaps, to allay any agitation of the 

 nerves which the dreadful catastrophe above 

 related may have caused : 



" Our annual supply of good things having 

 reached us this morning, we were enjoying 

 a bottle of some delicious Burgundy and 

 ' La Rose ' after dinner, when we were roused 

 by violent screams in the direction of the 

 village. We were all up in an instant, and 

 several men directed to the spot. Our spe- 

 culations on the cause were soon set at rest 

 by the appearance of two hircarras (messen- 

 gers), and a lad with a vessel of milk ou his 

 head. For this daily supply they had gone 

 several miles, and had nearly reached the 

 camp, when, having outwalked the boy, 

 they were alarmed by his vociferations, 

 'Oh, uncle, let go, let go I am your child, 

 uncle let me go 1 ' They thought the boy 

 mad, and, it being very dark, cursed his 

 uncle, and desired him to make haste ; but 

 the same wild exclamations continuing, they 

 ran back, and found a huge tiger hanging on 

 his tattered cold-weather doublet. The Atr- 

 can-as attacked the beast most manfully 

 with their javelin-headed sticks, and adding 

 their screams to his, soon brought the whole 

 village, men, women, and children, armed 

 with all sorts of missiles, to the rescue ; and 

 it was their discordant yells that made us 

 exchange our good fare for the jungles of 

 Morwun. The 'lord of the black rock,' for 

 such is the designation of the Tiger, was one 

 of the most ancient bourgeois of Morwun : his 

 freehold is Kula-pahar, between this and 

 Mugurwar, and his reign for a long series of 

 years had been unmolested, notwithstanding 

 his numerous acts of aggression on his bovine 

 si:bjects : indeed, only two nights before, he 

 was disturbed gorging on a buffalo belonging 

 to a poor oilman of Morwun. Whether this 

 Tiger was an incarnation of one of the Mori 

 lords of Morwun, tradition does not say ; 

 but neither gun, bow, nor spear, had ever 

 been raised against him. In return for this 

 forbearance, it is said, he never preyed upon 



man, or if he seized one, would, upon bein 



g epi 

 mainoo, or uncle, let go his hold ; and this 



entreated with the endearing epithet 



ing 

 of 



accounted for the little ragged urchin using 

 a phrase which almost prevented the hir- 

 carras returning to his rescue." 

 Of all the grand and exciting field-sports 



of the East, there is none, it is said, that 

 equals a Tiger-hunt ; but the length to 

 which this article has already extended for- 

 bids our indulging in the description of any. 

 When it is remembered, however, that from 

 ten to thirty well-trained elephants, each 

 carrying sportsmen armed with rifles, not 

 unfrequently join in the chase, it will readily 

 be conceived how great must be both the 

 excitement and the danger. 



Tigers' skins are occasionally imported 

 into Europe, as objects of curiosity rather 

 than of use, except as hammer-cloths for 

 carriages. In China they are used by the 

 mandarins as covers for their scats of justice, 

 as well as for cushions, pillows, &c., in the 

 winter : the more intense the yellow, and 

 the better defined the stripes, the more valu- 

 able are the skins. 



TIGER BEETLES. [See CICINDEUD*.] 



TIGER [MOTHS]. A name given by 



collectors to different species of Moths, of the 



genera Arctia, Jlypercawpa, and Jfemeo- 



phila. 



TIGRTSOMA. A sub-genus of Bfttern 

 found in South America, and so called from 

 the markings on their bodies somewhat re- 

 sembling those of the Tiger. 



TIMALIA. A genus of birds found in 

 the groves and small woods which abound 

 throughout Java. The species (T. piltata) 

 described by Dr. Horsfield is six inches and 

 a half in length ; and having a body rather 

 stout, and ovate. General colour above, 

 brown with an olivaceous tint ; underneath, 

 dull testaceous, inclining to gray ; crown of 

 the head, chestnut ; throat and cheeks white : 

 breast white, inclining to gray, marked with 

 intensely black strips by the shafts of the 

 plumes. A narrow white band commences 

 at the forehead, near the base of the bill, 

 encircles the eye, and unites with the white 

 plumes of the cheeks. Quills brown, tinged 

 with chestnut on the edges : lesser wing- 

 coverts, as well as the plumes which cover 

 the nape and back, grayish-blue at the base : 

 bill black and shining : feet brown. It con- 

 structs its nest in hedges, and is a bird of 

 social habits, delighting to dwell in the 

 neighbourhood of plantations and human 

 dwellings. Its flight is low and interrupted ; 

 and it is generally a welcome neighbour 

 wherever it resides, in consequence of the 

 peculiarity and pleasantness of its note, 

 which is remarkably slow and regular. 



TIMARCHA. A genus of Coleopterous 

 n sects, allied to Chrysomela. The Timarcha 

 \cevigata is a common British species, be- 

 tween half and three quarters of an inch 

 long. It frequents woods, turf, and low 

 herbage ; crawls slowlv, and emits a reddish- 

 yellow fluid from the joints when disturbed: 

 i'rom which circumstance it is vulgarly 

 known as the Bloody-nose Beetle. The 

 arvte bear a strong resemblance to the per- 

 fect insect, both in appearance and general 

 labits : when disturbed, they roll themselves 

 up after the manner of a wood-louse. 



T I N A M O U. ( TYnamtw.) A genus of 

 linweous birds, consisting of several spe- 



3 JT 



