92 THE MOTAL TIGER OF BENGAL. 



or two establish themselves near a cattle-grazing 

 village they very soon decimate the herd. They 

 rarely attack men, and when they do so it is 

 only when provoked. Some are man-eaters, but 

 we met none such. I think from what I have 

 seen and heard that they often show the most 

 extraordinary forbearance, for already we have 

 met with two men who have been in the grip 

 of a tiger, and yet were allowed to go away 

 almost unhurt. 



" I believe that a tiger would seldom touch a man 

 unless he went out of his way to disturb him, or he 

 were very hard pressed by hunger. They nearly 

 always try to get away when first found ; but 

 wound them, and they fight like devils incarnate ! 

 On returning to the tents, we found that the tiger had 

 more than one old wound besides that in his fore 

 leg, and whilst his skin was being taken off, a 

 Bun-jarah came forward and told us that fifteen 

 days ago his brother-in-law was returning from 

 the forest in that direction ; that in the dusk 

 he saw something lying in the grass, as he forced 

 his way through it, which he took to be a deer. 

 He fired, and in the next moment, to his horror, 

 he was in the grip of a large tiger. The animal 

 seized him by the shoulder, but dropped him 

 again almost immediately, and leaving him dis- 

 appeared in the forest. The man is now recovering' 

 from the wounds, which do not appear from the 

 description to have been very severe. It seems 



