100 SPORT IN BENGAL. 



ground with the trunk, a forward kick of the fore leg, or a 

 sniff of aversion ; but such signals are sometimes disregarded 

 if a panther, a bear, or even a wild hog have been seen, and 

 a conclusion may be hastily arrived at that some one of those 

 animals had been indicated, and thus a tiger may be lost 

 while a less noble beast is pursued. A few of the best 

 elephants will in this manner acknowledge the presence of 

 the tiger alone ; or of a tiger by signals never wasted upon 

 more ignoble game, so that the sportsman in the " howdah " 

 and the driver on the neck know at once unmistakably what 

 to be prepared to meet. 



Patience and perseverance are needed in a pre-eminent 

 degree in this fine sport, patience to bear up against dis- 

 appointments innumerable, and ill-luck of many blank days 

 in succession ; perseverance in pursuit under all sorts of diffi- 

 culties and discouragements. 



As a general rule a tiger will endeavour to avoid an 

 encounter with a line of elephants ; on rare occasions it will 

 await their approach and charge home when within a few 

 paces, but on still rarer occasions it will advance to the 

 attack from some distance, mouth open, lips curling upwards, 

 ears down, tail on end, and every hair on its body and head 

 bristling with fury. Whoever has had the good fortune to 

 witness such a charge as has been last described, will never 

 forget the magnificent sight, nor the terrific sounds which ac- 

 companied the onward bounds of the enraged monster, and 

 filled the air around, drowning the voices of all other living 

 creatures in its awful depth and volume. A large tiger viewed 

 under such circumstances, when his head and body are greatly 

 swelled out, and his appearance rendered most terrific by the 

 bristling of his hair, is a very different creature from the 

 listless, flat-sided beast of menageries and zoological gardens. 



It is said that a tiger wounded is almost as good as a tiger 

 padded ; generally no doubt a wounded animal is ultimately 

 killed on favourable ground, especially if badly hit. The 

 temper of this monarch of the Indian jungles is short, and 

 opposed to a long flight in the fiery heat of an April or May 



