THE TIGER 63 



attack man, and is not feared by the forest-living primitive tribes of 

 India ; but, as is well known, Tigers often take to man-eating, and such 

 an animal becomes a terrible scourge. 



The ordinary game-killing Tiger is not only harmless, but a beneficial 

 animal, as the Deer, wild Pigs, Nilghai, &c, on which he preys, are very 

 destructive to the crops of the native farmers. But when he takes to 

 feeding on cattle he becomes a great nuisance himself, and is always 

 liable to end as a man-eater, owing to the likelihood of collisions with 

 the aggrieved owners of his prey. There is, however, a case, recorded 

 by Sanderson, of a notorious cattle-killer which haunted a district for 

 twenty years, and during that time only killed one man ; this un- 

 fortunate individual had got in the tiger's way during a beat, and it 

 was generally felt that his death was due to misadventure rather than 

 malignity on the part of the animal. 



The amount which such an animal may cost a district may, however, 

 be estimated when one considers that a Tiger will kill two Bullocks a 

 week, and naturally does not choose the worst. Exceptionally, a young 

 Elephant may fall a prey to the tiger, and there is even a case known 

 in which an adult was killed by the great Cat, though it did not die at 

 the time, but some days afterwards, having been terribly lacerated along 

 the back-bone. One original Tiger has even been known to specialise 

 as a Bear-eater, and cases of Tiger cannibalism have occurred ; indeed, 

 the Tiger is not a " family man," like the Lion, and cannot be trusted 

 with his own cubs. He is not only much less sociable than the Lion, 

 but also much less noisy, though his roar, when heard, can hardly 

 be distinguished from that of his rival. 



The Tiger is a very esteemed sporting animal in India, and, 

 except in the case of a man-eater, any unsportsmanlike method of 

 destroying it is indignantly scouted by Europeans. It has, indeed, 

 been suggested that the rewards now paid by the Government for the 

 destruction of Tigers should be done away with, except, of course, 

 for man-eaters. Tigers are seldom pursued on foot, as Lions are in 

 Africa; the sportsman more usually rides on an Elephant, or sits 

 upon a platform or " machan " constructed in a tree near the animal's 



