CHAPTER VI 



THE TIGER (continued) 



THERE is no more delightful study than Natural History in its 

 practical form, where the wild beasts and their ways are actually 

 presented to the observer in their native lands, and he can examine 

 their habits in their daily haunts, and watch their characters in 

 their wild state instead of the cramped limits of zoological collec- 

 tions. At the same time we must confess that the animals of a 

 menagerie afford admirable opportunities for photography, and are 

 most instructive for a rudimentary preparation before we venture 

 upon the distant jungles where they are to be found in their un- 

 disturbed seclusion. It is commonly supposed that wild animals 

 that have never been attacked by firearms are not afraid of man, 

 and that deer, antelopes, and various species which are extremely 

 timid may be easily approached by human beings, as the creatures 

 have no fear of molestation. My experience does not support this 

 theory. Nearly all animals have some natural enemy, which 

 keeps them on the alert, and renders them suspicious of all strange 

 objects and sounds that would denote the approach of danger. 

 The beasts of prey are the terror of the weaker species, which 

 cannot even assuage their thirst in the hottest season without 

 halting upon the margin of the stream and scrutinising the country 

 right and left before they dare stoop their heads to drink. Even 

 then the herd will not drink together, but a portion will act as 

 watchers, to give notice of an enemy should it be discerned while 

 their comrades slake their thirst. 



It is a curious and inexplicable fact that certain animals and 

 varieties of birds exhibit a peculiar shyness of human beings, 

 although they are exjK)sed to the same conditions as others which 

 are more bold. We see that in every portion of the world the 

 curlew is difficult to approach, although it is rarely or never pur- 

 sued by the natives of the neighbourhood ; thus we find the same 



