480 THE FELID.E OF THE OLD WORLD 



absolutely necessary that the next shot should hit the animal 

 in the brain, as any other wound not immediately fatal would 

 only have increased its fury. 



Closely following the tiger, and watching all his movements 

 with the most intense attention, the Colonel, after having aimed 

 several times, at length fired and hit the temple of the tiger, 

 who fell over his victim a lifeless corpse. 



Fortunately, the Ensign was not mortally wounded, the stroke 

 of the tiger's paw, which had been aimed at his head, having 

 been parried by his rifle. The blow, however, had been so 

 furious, as to flatten the trigger, and thus he escaped with a 

 terrible wound in the arm. 



The tiger is particularly fond of dense willow or bamboo 

 bushes on swampy ground, as he there finds the cool shades he 

 requires for his rest during the heat of the day, after his noctur- 

 nal excursions. It is then very difficult to detect him, but the 

 other inhabitants of the jungle, particularly the peacock and 

 the monkey, betray his presence. The scream of the former is 

 an infallible sign that the tiger is rising from his lair ; and the 

 monkeys, who during the night are so frequently surprised by the 

 panther or the boa, never allow their watchfulness to be at fault 

 during the day. They are never deceived in the animal, which 

 slinks into the thicket. If it is a deer or a wild boar, they re- 

 main perfectly quiet, but if it is a tiger or a panther, they 

 utter a cry, destined to warn their comrades of the approach 

 of danger. When, on examining a jungle, the traveller sees a 

 monkey quietly seated on the branches, he may be perfectly 

 sure that no dangerous animal is lurking in the thicket. 



During the night the cry of the jackal 

 frequently announces the tiger's pres- 

 ence. When one of these vile animals is 

 no longer able to hunt from age, or when 

 j^ ^^^ he has been expelled from his troop, he 



is said to become the provider of the 

 tiger, who, after having satiated himself on the spoil, leaves the 

 remains to his famished scout. 



Though the male-tiger ventures to attack the buffalo, an 

 animal equally distinguished by courage and strength, the female, 

 even when pressed by hunger, refrains from the perilous con- 

 test. A single buff'alo may find it difficult to withstand the 



