HUNTING. 







deavours to escape by speed ; but if they and the dogs 

 get near, be either shakes hi* head with a terrible roar 

 and slackens his pace, or quietly sits down to wait their 

 attack. The dog* immediately rush on ; and he has 

 t^. only to destroy two or three, each with a blow of 

 his paw, until they tear him in pieces. Twelve or six- 

 teen are, in this manner, a sufficient match. Huntsmen 

 going on the enterprise keep together in pairs. If they 

 have not the requisite number of dogs, one, when with- 

 in reach of the lion, leaps off his hone, and aims at the 

 animal's heart ; but he must instantly remount, in order 

 to fly from its rage if wounded. Should be miss, the 

 same is done by his companion, who must also give full 

 reins to his horse ; and then the third of the party fol- 

 lows. This mode of hunting is represented as quite 

 free from danger, there being no example of its being 

 attended with fatal consequences. In the northern parts 

 of Africa, where lions are not so numerous, the whole 

 surrounding district is raised when one is discover- 

 ed to infest it. A circle of three, four, or five miles 

 in compass is formed, according as circumstances re- 

 quire, and dogs of large sixe are employed to rouse the 

 game. Horses are here trained for the purpose, and 

 the party proceeds always narrowing the circle until 

 the lion appear*. But this is a moment of dancer, as 

 he will readily spring on the person nearest to him. 

 The expert huntsman, however, is generally prepared 

 to terminate hi* career by a musket-ball. The lion is 

 likewise killed by spring gun* set in the path by which 

 it returns to commit its ravages ; or the Moor* and 

 Arabs dig a pit, which, being slightly covered with 

 reed* and branches, the animal I'.ilN in, and is taken. 



One of the noblest sports of the East it the hunting 

 of the tiger ; and indeed, considering the sie, the 

 strength, and the feroHty of the gene, rw inconsiderable 

 gratification must arise from the conqaeat. The tiger 

 i* sometime* so large as to measure 13 feet from the 

 nose to the tip of the tail. It is active, bold, and coo- 

 ning ^ it i* one of the most destructive beast* of prey : 

 Aocks and herd* are its usual pursuit, but it is the mor- 

 tal enemy of man ; and, having once tasted his blood, 

 it is said to reject ever after the blood of other ani- 

 mals. The immene and extensive thickets of Asiatic 

 countries are so many retreats where it can lurk in 

 concealment, end spring forth upon its victim, which 

 it does with a horrible growl ; or if the prey it in mo- 

 tion, where this ouuv* be accomplished, the tiger creeps 

 Along parallel to it and unperceived, until it c 

 vombfe position for iu spring. A deadly blow from the 



BBflM tin* * /;ir' , i'* \ :, '..in. j:"i !:! |'C''y i^ 

 ( .Tnrr' d -t .t x < j* , (in 



that he ubati >id a ti- 



prvocuM toe 

 then dragjfcd away. An 

 MOiMiDtiDg bis 



which had set hhn,~ aa it is called, 

 h a jungle. Divesting 

 branees, be drew a broad sword , and i 



whi 

 through a 



himself of 



the moment of the spring, with dexterity as 

 as his courage, immediately disabled his assailant 

 time* a tiger take* possession of a pass whence it ha* , 

 for a length of tune, carried off a man daily. This ani- 

 mal i* hunted hi various fashion*, bat chiefly by a nu- 

 merous party of sportsmen, and elephant* trained for 

 the chace : those males having long task* are preferred, 

 but few female* are fit to be employed in it. Indeed 

 the elephant and the dog are the only auxiliaries of 

 nan on this occasion. Hone* become fractious and 

 emable ; camel* offer an insecure position to 

 pendent of their natural dread of the 

 fame; and even the elephant can with difficulty be 

 urged onward with due preparation. When the retreat 

 - xi. PAT t. 



of a tiger is (discovered, which is generally in a jungle Hunting. 

 near the carcase of a mingled animal, a line of cle- ""' ' 

 phants is 1'ormed. and every exertion made for it* dis- Tiger hunt- 

 lodgment. The jungle, however, may contain more '"S- 

 than one ; and as the tiger becomes lethargic when sa- 

 tiated, and does not remove far from the spot of its de- 

 predations, the jungle is entered with much precaution. 

 Here the search is made with the largest and best 

 trained elephants ; and it is they that first disclose the 

 presence of the tiger by a peculiar kind of snorting and 

 trumpeting, and likewise an uncommon agitation. The 

 tiger is prone to spring on an approaching object ; but 

 if skulking off, the whole covert becomes impregnated 

 with its smell, and the elephant*, uncertain of its dis. 

 tance, and always dreading an attack, frequently be- 

 come perfectly ungovernable, nor can some be restrained 

 from flight. A certain emanation from the body of 

 the lion and the tiger, even when unseen, has a power- 

 ful effect on other animals : and men themselves have 

 experienced a kind of shuddering sensation solely from 

 that cause. The huntsmen who, mounted on their ele- 

 phants, are not above ten yards asunder, immediately on 

 discovering the tiger, fire from a piece of large calibre : 

 but should the shot not prove instantly fatal, the tiger 

 springs up with a furious roar, and endeavours tu at. 

 tack its enemy. Particular danger may thence ensue, 

 and both skil[ and dexterity arc required in the hunter 

 expeditiously repeating his discharge for his own pre- 

 servation. The elephant may then be brought forward 

 to crush the fallen animal, and gore it with its tusk* ; 

 which, although quite dead, it often tettifie* a repug- 

 nance to do. Horse* shew the most decided anti- 

 pathy, and dog* take a tour around the carcase. Some- 

 time* the tiger will spring pen the elephant, and put 

 the hunter in the most perilous situation. Notwith- 

 standing its intimate resemblance to the cat in every 

 thing, the tiger takes the water without hesitation, and 

 it has been known to force its way into a boat in 

 of all opposition. It does not appear that hunting 

 ferocious creature solely with dogs is ever attempted : 

 indeed it could not be accomplished without great loss 

 to the huntsman. It is taken in nets, however ; but 

 the sport is dangerous, for the game is apt to recoil on 

 Me pursuers ; and beside*, the nets are not always ot* 

 affoinU strength, nor is the tiger so perfectly I 

 loped and secured, as to be deprived of the power ot' 

 doing mischief. Tigers are caught, but very rarely, in 

 traps awl pita, the former constructed like a large 

 cage, end bailed with live dog or goat, which is 

 in en interior division. They are likewise 

 by single sportsman, who, having discovered a 

 *e half devoured, promptly constructs a platform 

 of bamboos 15 or to feet high, and there awaits the 

 depredator'* return. The natives of the hill- of Ben- 

 gal art poisoned arrows in their path to be discharged 

 from a bow of extraordinary strength, sometime* so 

 great, that the weapon penetrates to the heart, 

 difficult, however, to give it the proper direction from 

 the step of the tiger, which effects the discharge. 1 

 though the arrow does not touch a vital part, the poi- 

 son speedily begin* to operate, and never fails to dr. 

 troy the animal within an hour. The same apparatus 

 is used with an arrow free of poison. By mean* ol tin- 

 vigorous warfare carried on against tigers, many places 

 of India, formerly almost uninhabitable, are completely 

 cteaml of them. In other part* they are still common, 

 and the appearance of one innpircs the whole neigh- 

 bourhood with alarm. 



The panther, leopard, ounce, and lynx, all of the t-copud. 

 S\ 



