30 THE SOTAL TIGER OF BENGAL. 



tiger should be measured from the nose along the 

 spine to the tip of the tail as he lies dead on the spot 

 ■where he fell tefore the skin is removed. One that 

 is ten feet by this measurement is large, and the 

 full-grown male does not often exceed this, though 

 no doubt larger individuals (males) are occasionally 

 seen, and I have been informed by Indian sportsmen 

 of reliability, that they have seen and killed tigers 

 over 12 feet in length. The fuU-grown male Indian 

 tiger therefore may be said to be from 9 to 12 feet 

 or 12 feet 2 inches, the tigress from 8 to 10, or 

 perhaps, in very rare instances, 11 feet in length, the 

 height being from 3 to 3|, or, very rarely, 4 feet 

 at the shoulder. 



But we must look with doubt on Buifon's state- 

 ment that one had attained the length of 15 feet ; and 

 with even greater hesitation can we accept the 

 recorded statement that Hyder Ally presented a 

 tiger to the Nawab of Arcot that measured 18 

 feet. 



Wherever the tiger is found he roams undisputed 

 master of the locality, and the destruction of life he 

 causes is often great. His favourite food, as I have 

 said, is cattle, deer, and the wild hog ; and, accord- 

 ing to some, the pea-fowl ; and it is a remarkable 

 fact that wherever he is found these birds may be 

 looked for too ; though it is probable that this is due 

 rather to the nature of the cover than to any pre- 

 ference for pea-fowl. I remember, in a shooting 

 expedition in the Nepal Terai, with the Nepalese 



