26 tb:e sotaz tiger of bengal. 



injured. The approach of a tiger is often revealed 

 to the herdsman by the deportment of the buffaloes: 

 they form into a circle, within which he finds 

 safety in retiring, a proceeding which is evidently 

 comprehended and encouraged by the buffaloes 

 themselves. In times of want, when other food is 

 scarce, tigers have been known to eat each other, or, 

 it is said, carrion not killed by themselves. Frogs 

 and other small animals are not despised, and even 

 the porcupine sometimes become their prey. A 

 case is recorded where a tiger was killed, in an 

 extreme state of emaciation, with a quill sticking in 

 his gullet, which had become impacted there when 

 eating the porcupine. The tiger, and the tigress too, 

 sometimes eat their own young, and when she brings 

 forth in captivity, it is said, she requires to be more 

 than usually well fed to prevent her from devouring 

 her offspring. 



The_ tiger is^ a shy, morose, unsociable brute, 

 and is often found quite alone, though at certain 

 seasons his mate, if not present, is probably not far 

 away. Four or even five tigers have been seen 

 basking in the sun together in ruins like those of 

 Grour, but the party generally consists of the mem- 

 bers of a nearly full-grown family, and though 

 the young ones are still with their mother, they are 

 probably about to leave her and start in life on their 

 own account. A tigress, whose skin now before me 

 measures 9 feet 4 inches from snout to tip of tail, 

 with her three full-grown cubs, all fell together 



