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FELID.E. MAMMALIA.- 



retired to the edge of a jungle to refresh themselves, 

 where they had not remained long before one of the 

 party, who was leaving the rest to shoot a deer, heard 

 a dreadful roar, and saw a large tiger spring on poor 

 Munro, and rush with him into the jungle with the 

 greatest ease, dragging him through everything that 

 obstructed his course, as if all were made to yield 

 to his amazing strength. All that his companions 

 could do to rescue their friend from this shocking 

 situation, was to fire at the tiger; and it is evident 

 that their shots took effect, since in a few minutes 

 after, Mr. Munro staggered up to them and fell. 

 Every medical assistance that the ship afforded was 

 procured for him immediately, but in vain ; he expired 

 in the course of twenty-four hours, in the greatest 

 agonies. His head was torn, his skull fractured, and 

 his neck and shoulders covered with wounds made by 

 the claws of the savage beast. It is worthy of obser- 

 vation, that neither the large fire that was blazing 

 close to them, nor the noise and laughter which, it 

 seems, they were making at the time, could divert this 

 determined animal from his purpose." This, however, 

 is no proof of the tiger's bravery, since it fell upon 

 them unawares, and their noise was that of unsuspicious 

 mirth, and not of the kind to scare away such a cowardly 

 enemy, but rather to attract him. Tiger-hunting in 

 India is considered the noblest and most dangerous of 

 sports ; and from the mass of interesting details which 

 have appeared in various works devoted to the subject, 

 it is difficult to decide which are the most meritorious 

 records of the chase. Captain Mundy tells us of a 

 hunting party who sprung a tiger, when the following 

 scene ensued : This beast " took to the open country, 

 which would have more become a fox than a tiger, 

 who is expected by his pursuers to fight, and not to 

 run; and as he was flushed on the flank of the line, 

 only one bullet was fired at him ere he cleared the 

 thick grass. He was unhurt, and we pursued him at 

 full speed. Twice he threw us out by stopping short 

 in small strips of jungle, and then heading back after 

 we had passed; and he had given us a very fast trot 

 of about two miles, when Colonel Arnold, who led the 

 field, at last reached him by a capital shot, his elephant 

 being in full career. As soon as he felt himself 

 wounded, the tiger crept into a close thicket of trees 

 and bushes, and crouched. The two leading sports- 

 men overran the spot where he lay, and as I came up 

 I saw him through an aperture rising to attempt a 

 charge. My mdhaut had just before, in the heat of 

 the chase, dropped his ankors, or goad, which I had 

 refused to allow him to recover; and the elephant being 

 notoriously savage, and further irritated by the goading 

 he had undergone, became consequently unmanage- 

 able ; he appeared to see the tiger as soon as myself, 

 and I had only time to fire one shot, when he suddenly 

 rushed with the greatest fury into the thicket, and fall- 

 ing upon his knees, nailed the tiger with his tusks to 

 the ground. Such was the violence of the shock, that 

 my servant, who sat behind, was thrown out, and one 

 of my guns went overboard. The struggles of my 

 elephant to crush his still resisting foe, who had fixed 

 one paw on his eye, were so energetic, that I was 

 obliged to hold on with all my strength to keep myself 



in the houdah. The second barrel, too, of the gun, 

 which I still retained in my hand, went off in the 

 scuffle, the ball passing close to the mahout's ear, 

 whose situation, poor fellow, was anything but enviable. 

 As soon as my elephant was prevailed upon to leave 

 the killing part of the business to the sportsmen, they 

 gave the roughly-used tiger the coup-de-grace." 

 Sometimes, when the elephant rushes upon the tiger 

 in the manner just mentioned, it is absolutely impos- 

 sible for the riders to keep their seats. The author of 

 the "Oriental Field Sports " gives an amusing illustra- 

 tion of an accident of this kind which happened to 

 Captain John Rotton : " He was one of a very nume- 

 rous party assembled for the purpose of tiger- hunting, 

 and was mounted on a very fine male elephant, that, 

 far from being timid, was very remarkable for a 

 courage scarcely to be kept within the bounds of 

 prudence. This singularly fine animal having, after 

 much beating a thick grass, hit upon the tiger's situa- 

 tion, uttered his roar of vengeance, which roused the 

 lurking animal, occasioning him to rise so as to be 

 seen distinctly. No sooner did the tiger show himself, 

 than Captain Rotton, with great readiness, bending his 

 body a little to the left, took aim at him as he stood 

 up, crosswise, almost close to the elephant's head. The 

 elephant no sooner espied his enemy, than he knelt 

 down, as is common on such occasions, with the view 

 to strike the tiger through with his tusks. At the 

 same time the tiger, sensible of the device, as suddenly 

 threw himself on his back, thereby evading the intended 

 mischief, and ready to claw the elephant's face with 

 all four feet, which were thus turned upwards. Now, 

 whether Captain Rotton had not been in the habit of 

 joining in such rapid evolutions, or that the elephant 

 forgot to warn him to hold fast, we know not ; but, so 

 it happened, that the delicate situation in which he 

 was placed, while taking his aim, added to the quick- 

 ness of the elephant's change of height forward, com- 

 bined to project him, without' the least obstruction, 

 from his seat, landing him plump on the tiger's belly ! 

 This was a species of warfare to which all parties were 

 apparently strangers. The elephant, however fearless 

 in other respects, was remarkably alarmed at the strange 

 round mass the captain being remarkably fat which 

 had shot like a sack over his shoulder ; while the tiger, 

 judging it to be very ungentlemanly-like usage, lost no 

 time in regaining his legs, trotting off at a round pace, 

 and abandoning the field to the victorious captain ! " 

 With regard to other modes of destroying tigers, it may 

 be observed generally that these animals are not very 

 easily secured by traps. According to Williamson, 

 they adopt a very ingenious method in Persia. " This 

 device consists of a large semi-spherical cage, made of 

 strong bamboos or other efficient materials, woven 

 together, but leaving intervals throughout of about 

 three or four inches broad. Under this cover, which 

 is fastened to the ground by means of pickets, in some 

 places where tigers abound, a man, provided with two 

 or three short strong spears, takes post at night. Being 

 accompanied by a dog, which gives the alarm, or by a 

 goat, which by its agitation answers the same purpose, 

 the adventurer wraps himself up in his quilt, and very 

 composedly goes to sleep, in full confidence of his 



