132 



PHYSICAL HISTORY OF MAN. 



into the main road, or to fall upon a palanquin and horse. Such a 

 thing as a tiger pouncing upon a man without killing him, was un- 

 known at Singapore; although it sometimes happened, when several 

 persons have been in company, that the tiger has been immediately 

 frightened away. There were persons who made a profession of kill- 

 ing tigers, and government had been paying a premium of a hundred 

 dollars for a head, but having recently reduced this to fifty, the busi- 

 ness was for the present at an end :" in reference to these prices it 

 should be observed, that the value of money here, is fivefold greater 

 than with us. In the wildest recesses of North America, the traveller 

 may throw himself upon the ground to pass the night; not so in 

 these countries; where, without disparagement to the rifle, I may state 

 my belief, that it would not prevail. Tigers, however, require covert; 

 and they will disappear whenever the island shall be cleared of woods ; 

 an event not likely soon to take place. Under present circumstances, 

 there is little difficulty in keeping out of their way ; and European 

 residents, by observing certain precautions, do not much regard them. 



An important moral effect, has been produced by this state of things. 

 " A decided diminution of crime has taken place," owing to the cir- 

 cumstance that thieves and other criminals, are deprived of their 

 former resource of escaping to the woods. A raja of Celebes, was 

 said to have been so impressed with the advantages of such a system 

 of police, as to have seriously " entertained the idea of introducing it 

 into his dominions." 



The tiger, though perhaps inferior in strength to the lion, is in re- 

 spect to the human family, a far more formidable animal. It may 

 even be said to rule in a good measure those wooded countries in 

 which it has obtained footing ; such as Java, Sumatra, the peninsula 

 of Malacca, the Indo-Chinese countries, and a portion of Eastern Hin- 

 dostan. In Western Hindostan, so far as my recent tour extended, 

 the true tiger appeared to be unknown ; the country being in general 

 open ; but in the thick woods towards Bengal, we read of a district 

 where " villages have been sometimes broken up by the ravages of 

 tigers." 



The BuGis of Celebes, now the dominant tribe or nation in the 

 East Indies, " resort in great numbers to Singapore at a certain 

 season of the year. Some, however, are present at all times; and 

 as they are distinguished from the proper Malays, only by a slight 



