CREATURES OF THE WILDERNESS 119 



afterwards was as to what would have happened 

 if he had not had his rifle handy. Would the 

 panther have slunk off, or would it have 

 looked away, so as to break the spell, and then 

 charged the native? The question is such an 

 interesting one that it was almost a pity it had 

 to remain unanswered. But in all probability 

 the native preferred his employer's solution to 

 any other. One or two lion stories, bearing on 

 this same influence of the human eye, will be 

 told in their proper place. How far such 

 power may be effectual in the wilderness 

 remains an open question, but it may, in pass- 

 ing, be remarked that its failure in menageries 

 is no criterion whatever, since captive lions and 

 tigers have, for obvious reasons, become so 

 familiar with human beings as to have lost that 

 fear of them which may, for aught we know, 

 inspire those in the wild state that are rarely 

 brought face to face with man. 



For an unarmed native to kill a tiger in its 

 cave must be an unusual occurrence, but a case 

 was communicated to The Field in which this 

 actually happened, and it was certainly turning 

 the tables with a vengeance. The natives in 

 some parts of India have a great liking for 

 roast porcupine, and, speaking from experience, 

 I can say that they might do worse. When, 

 therefore, they come to one of the small caves 

 in which porcupines commonly lie up during 



