OR, PLAIN TEACHING. 



173 



Active, powerful, and ferocious, the tiger is 

 more to be dreaded than the lion, because it is 

 more insidious in its attack, and also prowls 

 abroad by day as well as by night. In some 

 districts of India and in Sumatra its ravages are 

 frightful. We are informed by Col. Sykes that 

 in the province of Khandesh alone one thousand 

 and thirty-two tigers were killed from the year 

 1825 to 1829 inclusive, according to the official 

 returns. In Sumatra the infatuated natives 

 seldom attempt their destruction, having a 

 notion that they are animated by the souls of 

 their ancestors. Tiger-hunting is one of the 

 favourite field-sports of the East, and as the 

 chase is not unattended with danger, it is pro- 

 ductive of proportionate excitement. Though 

 horsemen as well as persons on foot attend on 

 these occasions, it is more for the sake of " being 

 in at the death " than of taking a decided part, 

 for the horse will seldom stand steadily when 

 near this dreaded beast. It is to the armed 

 riders on elephants that the dangerous work of 

 rousing up the tiger from the jungle-covert is 

 left, and of firing at him as he bounds along. 

 The tiger's first object is to escape under the 

 covert of the long grass or jungle ; but, when 

 wounded or hard pressed, he will turn with 

 great fury, and by springing on the elephant's 

 head or shoulder, endeavour to reach his anta- 

 gonists. 



The following is the most recent account of an 

 adventure with a tiger, of which there are many 

 startling tales upon record :— " A letter from 

 Penang, one of the Indian islands, dated Fe- 

 bruary 10, 1859, gives the following singular 

 escape from, but ultimate death by, the attack 

 of a tiger on a Catholic missionary on that 

 island, which will be read with painful interest : 

 — ' My escape from the tiger,' says the writer, 

 was truly miraculous, but that of Padre Cuelion 

 was still more so, as the following details of the 

 attack upon that worthy priest will clearly 

 prove. The padre was on his way to church, 

 and was absorbed in the study of his sermon, 

 when a tiger, to his utter surprise, suddenly 

 rushed out of the jungle or tall grass ; but, as 

 the beast had not measured its distance to a 

 nicety, the padre, walking very quickly, was 

 more frightened than hurt. The tiger, however, 

 brushed so close to the padre that the latter's 

 trousers were torn, the snap of the beast being 

 within a hair's breadth of his leg. The brute, 

 not content with a single spring, made another 

 charge upon the poor padre, and as he had 

 nothing to defend himself but his large paper 

 umbrella, he suddenly opened it out in the 

 brute's face, which had the effect of cowing it 

 for a time. The tiger, however, evidently more 

 pertinacious in his attacks than is wont with 

 his tribe, charged the padre at least a dozen 

 times, which occupied nearly twenty minutes. 

 In the meantime the padre gradually edged to- 

 wards a tree in an open space of ground ; and, 

 as there was a large white ants' nest between 

 him and the tiger, round which the latter had to 

 make a slight tour, this enabled the padre to 

 climb the tree and get out of his way. The 

 tiger, on getting round the nest, was at first 

 puzzled at not seeing the padre, but in a few 

 minutes he laid his nose to the ground, and soon 

 scented the whereabouts of his intended victim. 

 4 The tiger,' said the padre, ' quietly sat down 

 under the tree aud gave a wistful look towards 

 me, but it fortunately was of no avail.' The 



natives at length hearing the cries of the worthy 

 padre, hastened to the spot and rendered the 

 assistance required. The tiger fled the instant 

 he heard their shouts. The poor padre burst 

 into tears, and sang the Te Deura in token of 

 gratitude for his delivery. Padre Cuelion, how- 

 ever, did not rally long; the fright had too 

 serious an effect upon his system, and in about 

 ten da* T s he sank to rise no more." 



The depredations of lions and 

 tigers are committed upon the 

 ground ; but panthers and leopards, 

 and especially the latter, climb 

 trees with facility, and capture 

 small animals; in fact, in India 

 the leopard is called by the natives 

 the tree tiger. With respect to 

 the panther and the leopard there 

 ^are difficulties in deciding whether 

 they are distinct species or not. 

 Both have spots arranged in a 

 rose form, and in the arrangement 

 of these rosettes there is conside- 

 rable variation. The panther is 

 the larger animal, and generally 

 of a pale yellow colour. These 

 animals seldom attack man, unless 

 provoked. 



The cheetah, or hunting leopard, 

 is spread extensively throughout 

 Africa and India ; and in the 

 latter country it is employed to 

 hunt the antelove, 12. 



The sport is usually pursued in the cool of the 

 morning. The leopard is conveyed to the ground 

 which the antelopes frequent on a common un- 

 covered bullock-cart, on which is lashed a native 

 cot for the animal to crouch on. He is usually 

 hooded, that he may be more keen when allowed 

 to see his game. He has also a collar on and a 

 girdle of rope round his loins. Through each 

 of these a cord is passed, the ends of which his 

 keeper holds in his hand, so as to slip the leopard 

 at the proper moment. The keeper and driver 

 both sit on the cart, which the spectators follow 

 either on foot, horseback, or, as in the present 

 instance, on elephants. When the antelopes are 

 seen the driver makes a circuit, so as gradually 

 to approach without alarming them ; the spec- 

 tators either follow close, or go in a different 

 direction, in order to distract the attention of the 

 antelopes. As soon as the cart is within 200 

 yards of the herd, the keeper unhoods the leo- 

 pard, and the instant he has caught sight of the 

 game slips him. The leopard springs from the 

 cart and sets off, usually at an easy canter, to- 

 wards the herd, invariably singling out the buck 



