116 



Fl'.LlD.E.- 



-MAMMALIA.- 



-Felid.i!. 



following account of the habits of two half-tamed 

 examples : — " Both sjiecimens, while in a state of con- 

 finement, were remarkable for their good temper and 

 playfulness ; no domestic kitten could be more so ; 

 they were always coirrting intercourse with persons 

 passing by, and in the expression of their countenance, 

 which was always open and smiling, showed the 

 greatest delight when noticed, throwing themselves on 

 their backs, and delighting in being tickled and rubbed. 

 On board the ship there was a small music dog, who 

 used to play round the cage with the animal, and it 

 was amusing to observe the playfulness and tenderness 

 with which the latter came in contact with his inferior- 



sized companion. When fed with a fowl that died, 

 he seized the prey, and after sucking the blood and 

 tearing it a little, he amused himself for hours in 

 throwing it about, and jumping after it in the manner 

 that a cat plays with a mouse before it is quite dead. 

 He never seemed to look on man or children as prey, 

 but as companions ; and the natives assert that when 

 wild, they live principally on poultry, birds, and the 

 smaller kinds of deer. They are not found in numbers, 

 and may be considered rather rare animals, even in 

 the southern part of Sumatra. Both specimens were 

 procured from the interior of Bencoolen, on the ban';s 

 of tlie river of that name. They are generally found 



K.g 36. 



in the vicinity of villages, and are not dreaded by the 

 natives, except as far as they may destroy the poultry. 

 The natives assert that they sleep and often lay wait 

 for their prey on trees ; and from this circumstance 

 they derive the name of Dalian, which signifies the 

 fork formed by the branch of a tree, across which they 

 are .said to rest and occasionally stretch themselves." 

 The Rimau-dyan is identical with, and also known by 

 the name of, the Clouded tiger. A fine living example 

 exists in the Zoological Society's collection, Regent's 

 Park. 



THE TIGER {Fdts Tl(]r'is)—?\i\{e 8, fig 29— is 

 readily distinguished from all other feline mammalia by 

 its large bulk, associated with the characteristic trans- 

 verse bands which occupy all parts of the body. The 

 strijies form ruigs on the tail, the tip being always black. 

 On the inside of the limbs and under part of the belly 

 the fur is white. In some examples there is more 

 splitting of the bands than in others, forming what are 



(Fclis Onca), 



termed the double stripes. In all the tigers we havo 

 seen, this tendency was more or less marked. In the 

 specimen called " Jungla," now exhibiting in this 

 cotmtry, and formerly the property of the king of Dude, 

 this variation is remarkably developed ; but in other 

 respects the much vaunted "fighting tiger " is not to be 

 compared with the examples preserved in the Zoological 

 Society's Gardens, Regent's Park. The Tiger is not 

 furLished with a mane, and he stands less erect than 

 the lion ; his entire shape and make being more slender 

 and graceful than that of his noble-looking congener. 

 In regard to its geographical distribution, it is almost 

 entirely confined to the great Indian peninsula and its 

 adjacent islands, although it is also found in centr.il 

 and eastern Asia — in the latter region as far as Chinese 

 Tartary. Early writers have celebrated in strong 

 terms the ferocious and amazingly destructive habits 

 of this animal ; while its enormous strength, prodigious 

 speed, and tremendous leaping powers, have over and 



