SIZE AND LENGTH OF TIGERS. 81 



a faint lemon tint, the stripes being just perceptible in bright 

 sunshine. A very old tiger, with such a hide as described, 

 lived for many years on the hills between Ramghur and 

 Ranchi, in Chota Nagpoor, and at last fell to the bullet of a 

 " Shikaree," but I never heard who secured the trophy, and 

 very probably the skin was never noticed, and was destroyed 

 in common with others. Mr. Woods, in his book of natural 

 history, tells us that a tiger with a very pale skin was w r ell 

 known in London about the year 1820. 



Albinos among animals and birds are by no means rare ; 

 of hog-deer albinos I have seen many, but have never seen 

 or heard of them among panthers or bears in Bengal ; among 

 buffaloes a pink or salmon colour is not uncommon in the 

 wild as well as in the domesticated animals. 



As to the size and length of tigers, there has been a great 

 diversity of opinion, but of late years this question has been 

 definitely decided by many experienced sportsmen, who 

 having taken accurate measurements, have recorded the re- 

 sults in books published by themselves or others ; among them 

 may be named Mr. Shillingford, of Purneah, to whom we 

 are indebted for much valuable information on this head. 



My old authority, Captain Williamson, states truly 

 enough : " I never yet heard of a tiger infesting a country, nor, 

 indeed, of one being killed, but what he was the largest ever 

 seen ! However, in such frequency of monstrous growth, I will 

 venture to assert that nine in ten do not measure ten feet 

 from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail. I am sensible 

 that when in a state of provocation they swell themselves 

 greatly, for which the bristling up of their furs would account 

 sufficiently." Also, " the tiger proved to be the largest ever 

 killed on the Cossim-bazaar island. The circumference 

 of the joint of his wrist was twenty-six inches, he was 

 thirteen feet and a few inches from the tip of his nose to the 

 end of his tail, and in a right line, taken as he lay, from the 

 sole of his fore paw to the tip of his withers between the 

 shoulders gave very nearly four feet for his height." 



The last extract describes a monster indeed, a very giant 



a 



