THE TIGER 129 



belonging to the Forest Department, was hobbled 

 and turned into the jungle at night to feed, as 

 is the custom in Burma with tame elephants. 

 The tiger sprang on to her quarters, and literally 

 feasted on the poor thing while alive, tearing 

 huge chunks of meat from her flanks and quarters, 

 probably springing on to her again and again 

 after being shaken off, and biting out a huge 

 mouthful of flesh each time. Whether the ele- 

 phant at last succeeded in getting rid of her 

 terrible assailant, or whether the tiger, having 

 satisfied its hunger, slunk away to digest its 

 meal, is not known. The elephant was found 

 still on her legs next morning, but almost dead 

 from loss of blood and pain, and succumbed to 

 her injuries during the day. 



It is somewhat curious that in the dense, 

 uninhabited forests of Burma, untrodden by 

 man from year's end to year's end, except when 

 visited at rare intervals by some adventurous 

 sahib, both tigers and panthers should so seldom 

 be met with. One would suppose that in such 

 places, where both tigers and leopards abound, 

 they would be met with fairly often in the early 

 morning or evening. But though fresh tracks 

 of both will be found daily, the animals them- 

 selves are rarely seen. They are just as wary 

 as in the more frequented forests. I do not 

 think this is owing to an instinctive fear of man ; 

 for in such out-of-the-way places they have 



