RECREATION. 



Volume Vni. 



JUNE, J898. 

 G. 0. SHIELDS (COaUINA), Editor and Manager. 



Number 6. 



TIGER SHOOTING IN INDIA. 



LIEUT. J. P. WEBSTER. 



It was my good fortune to be sta- 

 tioned at Jubbulpore, India, from Jan- 

 uary, 1881, to October, 1882. During 

 that period I spent many a day in pur- 

 suit of Fclis tigris, then plentiful in and 

 about the Betul district. 



Tiger hunting is at its best during 

 the hot season; that is, in April and 

 May. Then the water supply of the 

 country is at its lowest point, and the 

 tiger frequents the valleys where much 

 of the game he feeds on has congre- 

 gated, and where the village cattle are 

 regularly watered. 



In India, tigers are divided into 2 

 classes: game killers, or those that 

 habitually prey on wild animals, and 

 cattle lifters, or those that feed on do- 

 mestic cattle. The regular game kill- 

 ing tigers are wary animals, and it is 

 useless to devote much time to hunt- 

 ing them. They are scattered over ex- 

 tensive tracts of jungle, and are so 

 active that they are seldom brought 

 to bay. On the other hand, the cattle 

 lifter is usually an older and larger 

 animal, and not at all given to violent 

 exertion. If the weather be cool he 

 follows the herds of cattle wherever 

 they go to graze, and kills many a 

 head. In the hot weather he remains 

 in some strong cover close to the 

 water, and, of course, when the cattle 

 go there to drink, has no difficulty in 

 killing all he requires. A tiger of this 

 kind will kill an ox every 4 days. If 

 very hungry and not disturbed, he will 

 devour both hind quarters the first 

 night. He will not go farther than he 

 can help after this meal ; but will return 



again the next evening and finish the 

 carcass. In the meantime he stores it 

 away under a bank, or covers it with 

 leaves. Tigers that prey on cattle are 

 generally known to the cowherds and 

 others who resort to their neighbor- 

 hood. These beasts do not confine 

 their attacks to the cattle of a single 

 village, usually having a whole circle 

 of villages where they are on visiting 

 terms. They do great damage ; 60 or 

 70 head of cattle, worth $25 to $50 a 

 piece, being destroyed by one such an- 

 imal in the course of a year. 

 ■ The best way of hunting the tiger is 

 with the aid of a trained elephant, as is 

 the custom in central, India. This was 

 the method I usually followed, al- 

 though I have many times shot them 

 on foot. The latter, however, is a dan- 

 gerous practice and the sportsman 

 rarely follows it long. The average 

 length of a full grown male tiger is 

 about 9-J feet, and its weight 325 

 pounds. Occasionally one hears of 

 tigers 11 and 12 feet long, but those 

 stories lack confirmation. I have 

 never seen one, either alive or stuffed, 

 that measured over 10 feet 4 inches. 



I recall, with no small amount of 

 satisfaction, my last tiger hunt, in 

 which I succeeded in killing a cattle 

 lifter who had long eluded the native 

 hunters. Possibly, had I not appeared 

 on the scene, he would have continued 

 his marauding expeditions indefinite- 

 ly, as the natives were beginning to 

 grow superstitious regarding- him, and 

 vowed he bore a charmed life. 



Early one morning in May, 1882, I 



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