262 SHIKAR SKETCHES. 



such a large animal, the answer is always the 

 same. They say that, 4 Super caudes micantes in 

 oeculos tigris urinam jactant ! !' 



It is extraordinary how implicitly this is be- 

 lieved in by the natives, and how the fact of the 

 legend (for I can term it nothing else) seems to 

 have been handed down from father to son. In 

 one of the earliest works on Indian sport (viz., 

 4 Oriental Field Sports/ by Captain Williamson), 

 mention is made of this stratagem, and Dr. John 

 Fryer, an old writer, in his account of 4 East 

 India and Bombain,' says : 



4 Wild Beasts frequent there ; Wild Dogs, which 

 they say thus put out the Eyes of Venison as they 

 feed in the Woods, and so Venom them that they 

 become their Pre}^.' 



The natives also of Burmah, I have heard, 

 believe that wild dogs destroy elephants by means 

 of the same stratagem. I can only ask my reader 

 to take the report for what it is worth. It is 

 impossible to credit, but yet it is extraordinary 

 that the belief in it should be so universal ! 



It is a well-known fact that tigers are but 

 seldom found in a part of the jungle frequented 

 by wild dogs, but I believe that this is accounted 

 for by the fact that the dogs so harry the deer 

 and disturb the jungle, that they forsake it, and, 



