40 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. IX, 



He faced the line of elephants, and began to go through the most 

 laughable antics, by way of challenge. He stamped and champed 

 his tushes ; he danced and pranced and curvetted in our faces for all 

 the world as if he were an Irishman at Donnybrook fair with a coat 

 to be trod on. The Mahauts urged us to shoot him, saying that he 

 was mad, and that he would injure an elephant ; but we refused to 

 slay the little champion at a disadvantage. Finally, seeing that we 

 had no fight in us, he slowly and gravely trotted after the rest. 



I once had a sambar hind driven through my camp near Kirwi 

 by a pack of wild dogs at dawn. My people turned the dogs and 

 saved the deer. By the time I was awake and alive to the conditions, 

 it was too late to slay any of the pack. They had gone. I never 

 spare them when the rare chance offers. I once got a right and left 

 with No. 4 into a pack, as it crossed a jungle road in Indian file, and 

 bao-ged a dog and a bitch. They were in fine coat as it was in the 

 cold weather ; red as an English fox, with a dark stripe down the 

 back, and a fine brush, which was black, except towards the root, 

 where it .was of the body-colour. The jungle natives are full of 

 stories as to the deadly pertinacity of their attack. They say that 

 a pack will kill a tiger in a few days by never letting him rest or 

 eat or drink, and by timing their simultaneous onslaught when the 

 royal beast is worn out. One jungle story which I have heard 

 gravely told is quoted by Jerdon (Mammals, p. 147) from Brian 

 Hodgson. It is to the effect that the pack will sprinkle their 

 peculiarly acrid urine upon the low leaves and stalks of under-growth, 

 and then, by combined action, drive a tiger into this cover. The 

 urine temporarily blinds their victim, and they set upon him with 

 impunity. They are the scourge of any jungle they enter. 



I had the other day the pleasure of perusing the Game Book of that 

 good all-round sportsman, the Maharaja of Kuch Bihar. It contains 

 the measurements of 133 tigers. They are distinguished into male 

 and female, but I think it is evident that some females have been 

 erroneously entered in the column for males. It is certain that there 

 are several cubs included in the latter. The average length of 99 

 tigers in the male column is 9' 4|". Deducting nine animals from 

 this list which were evidently females or cubs, the average length of 

 90 male tigers is 9' 5|". The largest are two of 10' 2|", noted in 

 Rowland Ward's "Measurements of Great Game." The largest I 



