38 TEE EOYAL TIGER OF SENGAL. 



Many would not kill him if they could, for they fear 

 that he will haunt them or do them mischief after 

 death. Some they regard as being the tenement of 

 a spirit, which not only renders them immortal, but 

 confers increased powers of mischief. In many parts 

 of India the peasants will hardly mention the tiger 

 by name. They either call him, as in Purneah, 

 gidhur (jackal), janwar (the beast), or they will not 

 name him at all ; and it is the same in the case of 

 the wolf. But though they will not always them- 

 selves destroy him, they are quite willing that others 

 should do BO, for they will point out his whereabouts 

 and be present at his death ; and the delight evinced 

 thereat is intense, for it often relieves a whole village 

 from an incubus of no slight weight, and saves the 

 herdsman from his weekly loss of cattle. The con- 

 versation and remarks made by these villagers round 

 the fallen tiger are often very amusing and charac- 

 teristic. 



All kinds of power and influence are ascribed to 

 portions of him when dead ; the fangs, the claws, 

 the whiskers, are potent charms, medicines, Ipve- 

 phnters, or prophylactics against disease, the evil eye, 

 or magic. They are in such demand that the natives 

 will take them ; and we have known whiskers, claws, 

 and even fangs extracted or carried away during the 

 night, even when the dead tiger has been placed 

 under the surveillance of a guard. The fat, also, is 

 in great demand for its many potent virtues in 

 relieving rheumatism and other ailments. The 



