148 BOTANIC GARDENS MENAGERIE. 



expensive an animal. Two cubs were kept for a short time in 

 order to train them to eat meat previous to shipping them 

 to Europe. They were about as big as large cats, with ridicul- 

 ously large heads and paws. Eemarkably tame and friendly, 

 they would follow me about the garden for short walks, putting 

 up their tails and rubbing their heads against my legs like 

 tame cats. In a few days they had learnt to eat meat instead 

 of requiring milk, which was difficult to get on board ship, and 

 Sir Charles Mitchell, then Governor, who owned them, had 

 them sent home to the Zoological Gardens. They were great 

 pets on board ship, where they ran loose. They had grown as 

 big as leopards when I saw them in England some months 

 later, but were still tame enough to stroke. I heard afterwards 

 that they died during the time of change of teeth, always a 

 risky time with tigers. Before they were shipped a live 

 chicken was put in their cage, and though the little animals 

 had never seen one before, the biggest one darted at it and 

 gave it such a blow with its paw that the chicken was sent 

 flying like a ball against the wall of the cage falling dead 

 instantly. 



A fine young tigress taken from a nest in Pahang was 

 presented to the gardens by M. Wise, in 1895 and lived there 

 till 1903, when it was sold. She passed safely through the 

 ordeal of changing her teeth, though considerable care had to 

 be taken with her at that time, and she had to be dosed with 

 santonine put in a piece of meat. She was usually very quiet, 

 with Europeans at least, though she disliked natives, and 

 would charge the side of the cage and strike violently with her 

 paws if the keeper leant with his back against the bars, but 

 never did so when he faced her. As the cage had to be en- 

 larged for her, she had to be temporarily transferred to a 

 travelling cage in which she could only just turn round. She 

 was kept there for some weeks and when the large cage was 

 ready she absolutely refused to leave the travelling cage, so 

 that a fire of paper had to be made near the cage in the hope 

 that the smoke might induce her to go into the large cage, but 

 she took no notice till a piece of paper suddenly burst into 

 flame, when she walked slowly into the cage and then made a 



Jour. Straits Branch 



