TIGER SLAYER BY ORDER 



This incident brings me to the end of my Hst of exciting 

 or out-of-the-way adventures experienced with tigers 

 in Khandesh, for though I shot many more of these animals 

 while employed in that district, none of them, so far as I 

 remember, gave me any trouble to secure, nor was the 

 pursuit of them attended by any circumstances of sufficient 

 interest to relate. 



During my long term of office there as tiger slayer, 

 however, I had, as I have already observed, quite excep- 

 tional opportunities for acquiring a knowledge of the 

 habits, etc., of these animals, not only by personal obser- 

 vation, but by talking to and questioning the Bhils, than 

 whom, as a people, there are none better informed on this 

 subject. 



As much of this information thus acquired would possibly 

 be of interest, and certainly of some value, to any sports- 

 man who may be contemplating a shooting trip to India, 

 I will, before closing this chapter, give a brief resume from 

 notes I made from time to time. 



To begin with, there is, as, I believe, universally 

 acknowledged, but one species of tiger, though varying 

 a good deal in size and colour, those found in Northern 

 China and Korea or Manchuria, for example, being said 

 to be larger, and have certainly thicker coats than those 

 of India, nature's provision, no doubt, for the colder 

 climate they inhabit, for tigers killed during the cold 

 weather in India, too, have a much richer coat, the fur 

 being closer and longer than of those shot in the hot 

 weather. 



Tigers in India become lighter in colour from age, the 

 stripes becoming narrower, fainter, and further apart as 

 their age increases. 



The muscular development of a tiger is enormous, and 

 there are two curiously bent bones, about four inches long, 

 disconnected with any other bones, embedded in the flesh 

 and muscle of either shoulder, that give extra strength ft 

 and cohesion to the parts. These clavicle bones — called ^ 

 by Europeans " lucky bones " — are much prized by the 

 natives as charms. 



The weight of a tiger is between four and five hundred 

 pounds, but varies considerably according to the locality I 

 48 f 



