294 REMARKS ON TIGER- SHOOTING ON FOOT. 



panthers, and a large number of bears and other formidable beasts, on foot, 

 so I will venture to state what I think are the chief precautions to be 

 observed. 



It makes all the difference in the world whether the animal to be attacked 

 is wounded or not. The sportsman occasionally comes upon a tiger when 

 after other game, or one is driven from a cover without being much bullied. 

 There is no danger to speak of in firing first shots at a hundred such beasts. 

 But if a tiger has been much harassed and irritated, and imagines himself 

 unable to escape — or wounded, and is followed up whilst pain and exhaus- 

 tion liave forced him to stop — he proves a very different beast to the retiring 

 animal he ordinarily is, though he is always an abject coward if firmly 

 faced. It is true that in shooting with elephants tigers frequently get on 

 board some of them ; but a tiger fears man more than any other being, and 

 though he will charge pluckily enough to all appearances, he always shirks 

 the last ten feet if boldly received. In netting tigers I have seen this so 

 constantly that I am quite sure a few determined men, keeping together, 

 are quite safe from any tiger in open ground. 



Whether a tiger should be attacked on foot or left alone depends 

 greatly on the nature of the jungle in which he is found. In the grasa 

 plains and thick undergrowth of such parts of Bengal as I have seen, 

 tigers can only be shot from the elevation of elephants' backs ; but in 

 many parts of Southern India the jungle is clear inside, and the ground 

 is broken, so that rocks and ravines may afford advantageous positions. 

 The tiger can also be shot even without such aids when he can be seen 

 at some distance. 



None but the utterly ignorant would think of following a wounded 

 ticrer into long grass or close cover, where it has every advantage, and the 

 sportsman may be seized before he has time to use his rifle. As well 

 might one follow it on a dark night. In such cover the tiger rarely makes 

 any demonstration from a distance, seeking to avoid observation, but when 

 almost stumbled upon he attacks like lightning. In doing this he is sel- 

 dom seeking to make a reprisal, and only acts in self-defence when he 

 thinks himself discovered. 



One of the most powerful elements in the tiger's attack is his voice if 

 the attack be commenced very near. The startling, coughing roar is abnost 

 paralysing to the coolest in such cases. But if the tiger has to come on 

 from any distance he rarely does more than grunt, and the sportsman's 

 attention is concentrated on the beast himself, and his demonstrations pass 

 unnoticed. The power of the tiger's voice at close quarters may be under- 

 stood by any one who has an opportunity of seeing a newly-caged tiger. It 



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