270 



HAUNTS AND HOBBIES 



of the tigers at the Emperor's court is concerned, is 

 confirmed by the accounts of the EngHsh travellers 

 of the period. Hawkins, who was two years at Agra 

 in attendance at the court, speaks of fifteen young 

 lions which used to roam about the palace " and hurt 

 no one." But he adds that the Emperor, whom he 

 describes as horribly cruel, used occasionally to make 

 some of his soldiers wrestle with them, and then the 

 case was different. The soldier who wrestled with 

 the lion was of course torn in pieces. 



Terry, who afterwards visited the court when at 

 Ajmere as chaplain to Sir Thomas Roe, the ambas- 

 sador sent by King James, speaks also of the wild 

 animals at the palace, especially of a " very great 

 Hon " that used to walk among the crowds " as gentle 

 as a dog, harming no one." Terry states, however, 

 that he was always accompanied by a number of 

 keepers. 



I should explain here that these early travellers 

 applied the term " lion " indifferently both to the real 

 Indian lion and also to that much more powerful 

 animal the tiger. We may conclude, therefore, accord- 

 ing to native traditio that the animals they speak 

 of as lions were really tigers. 



All who have seen tigers, even in menageries, must 

 have been struck with their activity and grace of move- 

 ment ; but it is only when observed free in the forests 

 and jungles that one becomes aware of their enormous 

 strength. A tiger, so I have often been assured, will 

 crush in the head of a bullock with a single blow of his 

 forearm, and will carry at full speed up the side of 



