CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY. 



ir f,.llo\v int; umphic account of a tiger hunt, of which he was an eye-witness, is from the pen of 

 l>r II, I., r. I !i.-h..p of Calcutta : 



"At KuIlean|H.or, the young Rajah Gourman Singh mentioned, in the course of conversation, that 

 there was a tiger in the adjoining tope, which had done a good deal of mischief; that he should have 

 simie after it himself had he not been ill, and had he not thought it would be a fine diversion for 

 Mr. lionlclerson, the collector of tlie district, and me. I told him I was no sportsman, but Mr. Boul- 

 derson's eyes sparkled at the name of tiger, and he expressed great anxiety to beat up his quarters in 

 the afternoon. Under such circumstances, I did not like to deprive him of his sport, as he would not 

 leave m.- by myself, and went, though with no intention of being more than a spectator. Mr. Boul- 

 derson, however, advised me to load my pistols, for the sake of defence, and lent me a very fine 

 doul.Ic-biirrelled gun for the same purpose. We set out a little after three on our elephants, with a 

 servant behind each lioudah,* carrying a large chatta, which, however, was almost needless. The 

 Rajah, in spite of his fever, made his appearance too, saying that he could not bear to be left behind. A 

 number of people, on foot and horseback, attended from our camp and the neighbouring villages, and 

 the same sort of interest and delight was evidently excited, which might be produced in England by a 

 great coursing party. The Rajah was on a little female elephant, hardly bigger than the Durham 

 ox, and almost as shaggy as a poodle. She was a native of the neighbouring wood, where they are 

 generally, though not always, of a smaller size than those of Bengal and Chittagong. He sat in a low 

 houdah, with two or three guns ranged beside him ready for action. Mr. Boulderson had also a 

 formidable apparatus of muskets and fowling-pieces, projecting over his mahout's head. We rode 

 about two miles across a plain covered with long, jungly grass, which very much put me in mind of 

 the countiy near the Cuban. Quails and wild fowl arose in great numbers, and beautiful antelopes 

 were seen scudding away in all directions. 



" At last the elephants all drew up their trunks into the air, and began to roar, and stamp vio- 

 lently with their fore feet. The Rajah's little elephant turned short round, and, in spite of all her 

 mahout (driver) could say or do, took up her post, to the Rajah's great annoyance, close in the rear of Mr. 

 Boulderson. The other three (for one of my baggage elephants had come out too, the mahout, though 

 unarmed, not caring to miss the show) went on slowly, but boldly, with their trunks raised, their ears 

 expanded, and their sagacious little eyes bent intently forward. ' We are close upon him,' said Mr. 

 Boulderson ; 'fire where you see the long grass shake, if he rises before you.' Just at that moment my 

 elephant stamped again violently. 'There, there !' cried the mahout ; ' I saw his head.' A short roar, 

 or rather growl, followed, and I saw, immediately before my elephant's head, the motion of some large 

 animal stealing through the grass. I fired as directed, and, a moment after, seeing the motion still 

 more plainly, fired the second barrel. Another short growl followed ; the motion was immediately 

 quickened, and was soon lost in the more distant jungle. Mr. Boulderson said : ' I should not wonder 

 if you hit him that last time ; at any rate, we shall drive him out of the cover, and then I will take 

 care of him.' In fact, at that moment, the crowd of horse and foot spectators at the jungle side began 

 to run off' in all directions. We went on to the place, but found it was a false alarm ; and, in short, 

 we had seen all we were to see of him, and went twice more through the jungle in vain. 



" I asked Mr. Boulderson, on our return, whether tiger-hunting was generally of this kind, which 

 I could not help comparing to that chase of bubbles, which enables us in England to pursue an otter. 

 In a jungle, he answered, it must always be pretty much the same, inasmuch as, except under very 

 peculiar circumstances, or when a tiger felt himself severely wounded, and was roused to revenge by 

 despair, his aim was to remain concealed, and to make off as quietly as possible. It was after he had 

 bn.ken cover, or when he found himself in a situation so as to be fairly at bay, that the serious part of 

 the sport began, in which case he attacked his enemies boldly, and always died fighting. He added, 

 that the lion, though not so large or swift an animal as the tiger, was generally stronger and more 

 eoiirnu'eoiis. Those, which have been killed in India, instead of running away when pursued, through 

 :i .iun-ile, seldom Re em to think its cover necessary at all. When they see their enemies approaching, 

 Ley spring out, to meet them, open-mouthed, in the plain, like the boldest of all animals a mastiff 

 re thus generally shot with very little trouble; but, if they are missed, or only 



The houdah ia a seat somewhat resembling the body of a. gig, and is fastened by girths to the back of the elephant. 



