TIGERS, LEOPARDS, AND BEARS 265 



the chance of passing it; but his vehicle was an old one, 

 and the wheels rattled loudly. The tiger heard, stopped, 

 and turned round. There were some seconds of extreme 

 anxiety, then relief; for the tiger, either alarmed at the 

 appearance of the vehicle or at the noise of its wheels, 

 turned again, broke into a trot, and disappeared in an 

 adjacent gorge. 



The tigers do not confine themselves entirely to the 

 forests and jungles at the base of the Himalaya. They 

 occasionally wander up the valleys, even, it is said, as far 

 as the snowy range. 



The Government at that time gave a reward for the 

 killing of the more dangerous wild animals, such as 

 tigers, leopards, and bears. Before the reward could be 

 claimed the skin of the animal had to be shown me. In 

 the course of my residence in the Doon, in this way a 

 great number of tiger skins were brought before me, and 

 I learnt some things regarding them which perhaps may 

 interest the reader. 



The skins of the young tigers are by far the hand- 

 somest : the fur is longer, softer, and thicker, and the 

 colours deeper and richer. With advancing age the 

 colours grow paler, and the fur shorter and less close. 

 By the appearance of a skin the age of the tiger can 

 thus be roughly guessed, also the season of the year in 

 which it was killed, for under the intense sunlight of the 

 hot weather the colours, especially the yellow, more or 

 less become lighter and less brilliant. The skins of the 

 old male tigers are generally much marked with scars, 

 the results of the wounds received in their many 

 combats. 



