n8 FLESH-EATERS OF THE LAND 



is quite woolly, to enable it to endure the cold. Mr. 

 J. D. Cobbold shot one in Central Asia in a frozen 

 snow-covered swamp, where the hunter was almost in 

 danger of freezing to death. 



The largest known Tiger skin came from north of the 

 Himalaya ; it measured thirteen and a half feet from the 

 nose to the tip of the tail. But practically our sole 

 reliable knowledge of the Tiger is limited to the scourge 

 of India, the largest known skin of which measured 

 eleven and a half feet. 



The markings of the Tiger's fur are very beautiful, a 

 series of dark, transverse stripes being laid on a rich, ruddy 

 yellow ground ; there are black rings on the tail. The 

 skin of the Cat tribe is loose, but in the Tiger it is in 

 folds almost to bagginess. In their gambols or in their 

 conflicts among themselves, or with other animals, it is 

 practically impossible for the foe to get a firm grip of 

 them. 



The countenance of the Tiger is a terrible study in blood 

 thirsty characteristics. The massive jaws, the fierce, snarling 

 lips disclosing the great yellow fangs, and the relentless, 

 glaring eyes make up a whole that thrills one uncomfort- 

 ably, even when it is viewed through the bars of a cage. 

 To meet the Tiger in its matchless strength in its native 

 haunts calls for courage in the highest degree. Even an 

 experienced hunter like Mr. E. D. Cuming says : ' Speaking 

 for myself, that green glare of a Tiger's eyes at close quarters 

 in uncertain moonlight has a distinctly unsettling effect on 

 the nerves : one can hold steadier when he is not looking.' 



In most of its habits the Tiger so much resembles 

 the Lion that they need not be described. There is, 

 however, one point in which it exceeds the Lion. Man- 

 eating lions are comparatively rare, but man-eating Tigers 

 are fearfully common, and depopulate whole districts. A 

 single Tiger has been known to tyrannise over a district 

 of thirty or forty square miles, every village being deserted 

 by its inhabitants. It destroyed at least a hundred human 

 beings in one year. Its immunity was due to two causes ; 

 one being the natural apathy of the Oriental disposition, 

 and the other the superstitious Hindoo idea that the Tiger 



