TIGERS. 101 



follows. Fifty or sixty people \vere beating 

 a thick cover as before described ; I was on 

 the outside of it, with a man holding rny 

 horse,, and another servant with a hog's spear ; 

 when those who were driving the cover called 

 suerl suerl which is the Hindoostanee name 

 for hog; Seeing something move the bushes 

 about twenty yards from me, and supposing 

 it to be a hog, I fired at the spot, with ten or 

 a dozen small balls ; instantly on the explo- 

 sion of my gun, a tiger roared out, and came 

 galloping straight towards us. I dipped 

 under the horse's belly and got on the oppo- 

 site side from him; he came within a few 

 yards of us, and then turned off growling into 

 the coyer. 



When the people came out, they brought 

 with them a dead hog partly devoured. 

 These two cases, I think, shew clearly that 

 tigers are naturally cowardly. They gene- 

 rally take their prey by surprise, and whene- 

 ver they Attack openly, it is reasonable to 

 conclude that they must be extremely hun- 

 H3 



