16 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Instance of courage in a stag. 



awful moment, when it may be naturally con- 

 ceived every heart beat high with wonder, fear, 

 and expectation; a trained ounce, or hunting- 

 tiger was led in, hood-winked, by the two blacks 

 that had the care of him, and who, upon signal, 

 set him and his eyes at liberty. Perhaps so ge- 

 neral a silence never prevailed among so many 

 thousands of spectators as at that moment, when 

 the slightest aspiration of a breeze might have 

 been distinctly heard. 



" The tiger, taking one general survey, in- 

 stantly caught sight of the deer; and, crouching 

 down on his belly, continued to creep exactly in, 

 the manner of a cat drawing up to a mouse, 

 watching the opportunity to dart upon his prey 

 with safety. The stag, however, most warily, 

 steadily, and sagaciously turned as he turned; 

 and this strange and desperate antagonist found 

 himself dangerously opposed by the threaten ings 

 of his formidable brow-antlers. In vain did the 

 tiger attempt every manoeuvre to turn his flanks, 

 the stag possessed too much generalship to be 

 foiled upon the terra firma of his native country 

 by a foreign invader. This cautious warfare con- 

 tinuing so long as to render it tedious, and pro- 

 bably to protract the time of starting the horses 

 upon the race-ground ; his Royal Highness en- 

 quired if, by irritating the tiger, the catastrophe 

 of the combat might not be hastened. He was 

 answered, it might probably prove dangerous, or 

 be attended with disagreeable consequences ; but 



