A GREAT BAG. 75 



climbing trees, bears the name of ' Suckree bang,' literally 

 implying the tree-tiger." Oh ! Captain Williamson, not to 

 know that " Sukra bagha " was even in your time a hyena, 

 which did not love to climb trees ! We have these lessons in 

 the vernacular or Moors' language from one who, we are told 

 in these latter days, lived with the natives of the country 

 on terms of easy familiarity, and therefore knew intimately 

 their character, habits and language ! There is here some 

 reason to doubt the extraordinary familiarity with the natives 

 on the part of our predecessors, so much vaunted by certain 

 writers, and so warmly advocated by others ; certain it is that 

 our Captain did not perfect himself in the " Moors'/' through 

 the medium of books and " Moonshees ; " however, he is 

 better up in sport, and all relating to it, as understood in the 

 eighteenth century, and tells us (page 238, vol. I, 2nd edition, 

 1819), that "about Daudpoor, Plassey, Aughadup, and es- 

 pecially along the banks of the Jellinglue, which borders 

 the Cossim-bazaar island to the eastward, they (i. e., tigers) 

 are known to cross and recross during the day, as well as by 

 night ; seeming to consider the stream as no impediment . 

 From Aughadup in particular, they pass over to the ex- 

 tensive jungle of Fatally, that has ever been famous for the 

 number it contained. I have in passing through it seen 

 four several tigers within the space of two hours ; and a 

 gentleman who was proceeding by dawk, that is post, in his 

 palankeen, in the year 1782, saw three absolutely lying in 

 different parts of the road as he went on. Paul * once 

 made an excursion thither with a number of elephants under 

 his charge ; and in about a week killed twenty-three royal 

 tigers, besides several leopards." This is a bag which has pro- 

 bably never been equalled either before or after 1782, and a 

 party of sportsmen trying that country at the present day 

 might possibly within a week kill one or two panthers, but 

 never a tiger would they see. In another place the same 

 writer states that he has known three sentries to be carried 

 off in one night from the camp of his regiment while on 

 * A Dutch sportsman, and not the Apostle. 



