232 THE TIGER. 



of the lion and the elephant. In the Peninsula of Hindustan, 

 which is the principal seat of his empire, he may be seen 

 " fighting for the crown" with the lion himself, and sometimes 

 ending the battle by killing his illustrious antagonist. With 

 one stroke of his claws the tiger rips open the body of the 

 largest animals. In his tremendous jaws he can carry off a 

 buffalo, almost without relaxing from his usual speed. In fact, 

 the tiger's gastronomic and gymnastic accomplishments fully 

 equal those of the lion ; and as for music, his roar is nearly 

 similar to that of the latter, while his purr is as mild and 

 expressive as that of a cat. When angry he utters a short 

 and shrill cry, approaching to a scream. His roar is most 

 impressive when heard as an accompaniment to the stormy 

 elements. He begins by deep, melancholy, and slow intonations 

 and inflections j presently his voice becomes more acute, and 

 then suddenly changes to a violent cry, interrupted by long 

 tremulous sounds, which together, and repeated in the same 

 manner again and again, form a grand but distracting 

 chorus : 



" In fortune's ray and brightness, 

 The herd hath more annoyance by the brize* 

 Than by the tiger : but when the splitting wind 

 Makes flexible the knees of knotted oaks, 

 And flies flee under shade ; why, then, the thing of courage, 

 As rous'd with rage, with rage doth sympathize, 

 And with an accent turn'd in self-same key, 

 Returns to chiding fortune." 



(Troilus and Cressida, Act I. Sc. 3.) 



In another passage Shakespeare has most admirably sketched 

 the threatening aspect of a tiger meditating revenge, or about 

 to spring on its foe. The poet (I had almost said the zoologist) 

 makes Henry the Fifth bid his soldiers be as courageous as 

 the tiger j and the instructions given to that end convey a 

 better picture of the enraged animal than any prose writer has 

 depicted : 



" When the blast of war blows in our ears, 



Then imitate the action of the tiger; 



* i. e. the breeze-fly. 



