,-. 6 -SELL'S POPULAR NATURAL H1STOKV. 



" Here (Touched (he panting tiger on (lie at<:h ; 

 Impatient, but unmoved, his tin ball eves 

 Made horrid twilight in the sunless jungle, 

 Till on the heedless buffalo he sprang, 

 Dragged the low-bellowing monster to his lair 

 Crashed through his ribs at once into his heart 

 Quaffed the hot blood, and gorged the quivering flesh, 

 Till drunk he lay, as powerless as the carcase." 



A buffalo, belonging to a peasant in India, having fallen into a quagmire, the man was himself 

 unable to extricate it, and went to call the assistance of his neighbours. Meanwhile, a large tiger 

 i-,.iiiiiiu' t<i (lie spot, seized upon the buffalo, and dragged him out. When the men came to the place, 

 they saw the tiger with the buffalo thrown over his shoulder, in the act of retiring with him towards 

 the jungle. No sooner, however, did he observe the men, than he let fall the dead animal, and pre- 

 cipitately escaped. On coming up, they found the buffalo quite dead, and his whole blood sucked out. 

 Some notion may be gained of the immense power of the tiger when it is remembered that the ordi- 

 nary weight of a buffalo is above a thousand pounds, and, consequently, considerably more than double 

 its own weight. 



Combats between these animals were once frequent in the island of Java, and, when they were to 

 fijjht for the amusement of the court, they were brought to the field in large cages. The place was 

 surrounded by a body of the people four feet deep, with levelled pikes, that, if the creatures endeavoured 

 to break through, they might be immediately killed. When all was in readiness, the cage of the 

 buffalo was first opened at the top, and his back rubbed with the leaves of a plant, which occasioned 

 him intolerable pain ; when the animal leaped out, roaring most dreadfully. The cage of the tiger 

 was then opened, and fire thrown into it to make the beast quit it, which he generally did, running 

 backwards out of it. No sooner did the tiger perceive the buffalo, than he sprang upon him; his 

 huge opponent standing expecting him, with his horns on the ground, in order to catch him upon 

 them, and throw him in the air. If the buflalo succeeded, and the tiger recovered from his fall, he 

 was generally indisposed to renew the contest ; and if the tiger avoided this first attempt of the buffalo, 

 lie sprang upon him, and, seizing him in the neck or other parts, tore his flesh from his bones. In most 

 cases, however, the strength of the buffalo overcame the address and ferocity of the tiger. 



On another occasion, a lofty bamboo palisade was erected at Siam, which occupied an area of 

 about one hundred feet square. Into this enclosure two elephants were introduced, with their licul, 

 and trunks shielded by a kind of mask. A large tiger was now brought from its den, and held with 

 cords till one of the elephants approached, and inflicted two or three blows on its back with his trunk, 

 BO heavily laid on that it fell stunned as if dead. Then they loosed the tiger. No sooner did he 

 recover than he sprang with a dreadful roar at the elephant's trunk, stretched out in act to strike him, 

 but the wary elephant drew up his trunk, and, receiving the tiger on his tusks, hurled him into 

 the air. This checked the fury of the tiger as it well might and he gave up the contest with the 

 elephant ; but he ran several times round the palisade, frequently springing at the spectators. After- 

 wards, three elephants were set upon him, and they, in turn, dealt him such heavy blows that he again 

 lay senseless, and would have been killed, had not the struggle been stopped. Such a trial of strength, 

 however, was wanton and cruel, but it placed beyond all doubt the "pluck" of the tiger. 



The tigress brings forth three or four, or four or five, cubs at a time. She is a very fond mother, 

 braving every danger for them, and furiously attacking man and beast in their defence. With this 

 fact, it appears, from the epigrams of Martial and the satires of Juvenal, that these ancient poets were 

 :ici|uainted. 1 1 is OH record that, in modern times, a tigress devoured her cub ; but it should be remembered 

 that this unnatural act was done in captivity, and that rabbits, sows, and cats, have done the same. 



But thiil. the maternal feeling, in a state of nature, is strong in the tigress, there can be no doubt. 

 <':i|.t:.in Williamson, for example, relates that two tiger-cubs were brought to him when he was 

 Miiiii.iic,! in an Indian dUlriet. The country-people had found four in the absence of the tigress. The 

 tun brought to the captain \\rre put into a stable, where they made a loud noise for several nights. 

 The bcrcii\c,| i , ,,| .,, ]. (sti) ,.,.j, iyi n g to their cries with frightful howlings, and the cubs were 



'HO, under the a],|,n-h.-nMon that, infuriate as she was, she would break hi. In the morning it 



ti.iii.d that .-lie had e.irried (hem auav. 



