CHAPTER II. 



THE TIGER. 



Felis Tigris. 



Generally throughout India — Bdgh — Slrfr — Si. 



The Tiger is found in suitable situations all over India, and even occasionally ascends 

 the Himalayas nearly to the limit of the snows. The broad belt of forest at the foot of the 

 Himalayas, termed the Terai, and the lower spurs of the hills, are the great strongholds of 

 Tigers in Northern India ; from which stragglers occasionally stray to great distances, and 

 are found where they would be little expected. 



Tigers vary much in height, in girth, and in length of tail. The fairest mode of com- 

 parison, if it could be carried out, would be by weighing. The color varies a good deal, 

 some being darker than others : and the number and arrangement of the stripes also varies 

 much. As a rule the color becomes lighter, and the stripes fewer and less distinct, as the 

 animal advances in age. Young Tigers have longer and more, fluffy hair than the old ones, 

 though I have seen a very old male with a great deal of long hair about his throat, forming, 

 indeed, a sort of mane. 



Although I do not pretend to be an authority on Tiger-shooting — having only been in at 

 the death of fifteen or twenty — I have the pleasure of the acquaintance of men who have shot 

 hundreds, and I only state what is corroborated by the unanimous testimony of all the 

 experienced men with whom I have conversed on the subject, when I express my belief that 

 the size of the enormous Tigers of which one frequently reads, has been immensely exagger- 

 ated. The measurements of eleven, twelve, and even thirteen feet, which have been frequently 

 given, could only be obtained from stretched skins, or by some error in the measuring tape, or 

 defect in the memory of the writers. Even by measuring along the curves of the body instead 

 of in a straight line from nose to tip of tail (the only fair way), not more than a few inches 

 would be gained. 



It is, of course, not beyond the bounds of possibility that there may be giants among 

 Tigers as among the human race, but when one individual asserts that he shoots many of 

 these Brobdignagians, while others with far greater experience never have the good fortune 

 to meet with a single specimen, the conclusion forced upon the impartial mind is, that the 

 man of exceptional experiences must have been travelling with Gulliver in the land of 

 Romance. 



