The Zoologist— August, 1869. 1773 



that he had forgotten natural consanguinity of relationship, and in a 

 fit of hunger had eaten his own helpless progeny ! 



From the spot where the beast had feasted on his own young, I 

 steadily tracked him to a patch of tall grass some two hundred yards 

 off, and which I at once knew, from the direction he took, he had 

 niade for to get water. This piece we commenced to beat, as before, 

 in line : we had not gone ten yards into it, when ray second elephant 

 gave the usual grunt, indicating that she had srnelled an unsavory 

 smell. At this juncture I saw the grass wave in front of said elephant 

 slightly, and as if caused by some lithe animal moving cautiously : 

 I kept it in view — we drove on — and, horror ! there was such a roar 

 as to cause ns all involuntarily to stand still and hold in our breaths, 

 elephants and all. Roar succeeded roar — there was evidently a fight 

 aud a deep struggle going on ; the grass was being violently moved in 

 a central part of the bit we were beating, and for the first five seconds 

 all was bewilderment with us. The roaring and struggling lasted 

 about a minute, when all became still: we, the sportsmen, looked into 

 each other's faces, and then towards the spot ; at last one suggested 

 that the male tiger we were in quest of had bagged a pig, which, 

 disturbed by our line, must have gone near him, and the roaring 

 and struggling was the consequence. This to all of us seemed so 

 natural a hypothesis that we adopted it at once, and forthwith pro- 

 ceeded to hunt for the tiger, which we were now sure of finding. 

 Coming up to the place of the fight we started the identical huge 

 male ; but what was that he was carrying in his mouth ? — what, why 

 his second youngster! The poor wretch had also taken refuge in the 

 grass ; we had put him up on entering the beat ; he had glided along, 

 probably unconscious of the vicinity of his unnatural father, had slept 

 upon his lair and was bagged for his temerity. The old cannibal no 

 doubt had the relish of the night's supper fresh in his mind's eye, 

 when he saw young hopeful within his clutches. 



I will not prolong the story : suffice it that after heavy beating 

 through grass, which in some places was taller than our elephants, 

 with tact and management, materially assisted by the men whom I had 

 set to watch, and alter getting a jolly spill off the elephant when she 

 was charging the tiger, 1 had the honour of bagging my gentleman 

 with the first shot fired at him from my rifle. He was a full-grown 

 tiger, measuring ten feet with his coal on, and twelve feet six inches 

 when it was taken off and stretched between two men holding either 

 extremity. The young tiger, which was so unnaturally polished off, 



