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DO TIGERS DREAD FIRE ? 



IT is a popular belief that all wild animals dread 

 fire ; hence it is that when camping in the open, 

 in districts frequented by the great carnivora, 

 hunters and travellers kindle large fires round their 

 camps at night to frighten off wild beasts. Living- 

 stone and other writers on African travel have 

 recorded instances where men and domestic animals 

 have been carried away from camp-fires by lions. 

 I have known an instance where a tiger has come 

 night after night and warmed itself at a large 

 fire, not taking the least notice of the coolies 

 working around. We were sinking a prospecting 

 shaft in Chota Nagpore, and as we wished to push 

 the job to completion we worked night and day, 

 in shifts of eight hours. We had no pumps, and as 

 the ground was wet a pulley was fixed over the 

 shaft and sixteen women worked up and down 

 a ramp, pulling a large bucket which was emptied 

 by a man stationed at the mouth of the shaft. 

 The nights in December and January are very 

 cold, and as the hauling was not continuous we 

 kept a large fire going near the shaft to light 

 up the work, round which the women warmed 

 themselves when not working the rope. One night, 



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