284 THE TRAIL OF THE TIGER 



"by a swift attack from the rear. Such, when deal- 

 ing with tigers is the favorite method also of wild 

 dogs, which are swift and hunt both by sight and 

 scent, never leaving the trail once it is entered 

 upon. They never make a frontal attack, or lay 

 themselves liable to the hoof or paw of what they 

 are pursuing, but tirelessly follow, awaiting oppor- 

 tunity to swiftly overwhelm by numbers, or, in the 

 case of tiger, to leave the beast emasculated and to 

 slow death. I heard of tigers killed by these dogs 

 in a scuffle, but never came upon an authenticated 

 case, and in the absence of such proof, must doubt 

 it. So also do I question the reported instances 

 of a boar successfully sustaining the attack of a 

 tiger, though a fine old boar that was laid low 

 after a gallant fight, by a pig-sticking company of 

 which I was a member, had deep fang marks at the 

 back of the head and on the chest, unmistakably 

 made by a tiger. 



When the tiger fails to seize the throat, it pur- 

 sues and hamstrings the bullock whose body it 

 then drags to a retired spot, where after sunset it 

 will feast— invariably, on the hind quarters first, 

 the thighs being an especial delicacy and often 

 eaten in the first night. Its first meal is usually 

 an orgy, at the close of which the tiger seeks the 

 nearest seclusion to doze off that " well filled feel- 

 ing "; thereafter it eats day or night as inclined 



