210 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
contest. When the elephant approached within about 
fifty yards, the Buffalo rushed on with a force and resolu- 
tion which no language can adequately describe. Perfo- 
rated with weighty balls, besmeared with blood, fire in 
his eye, and ebbing strength in his charge, he came on 
with his head down between his knees, struggling onward, 
and rushed upon his colossal foe. The shock staggered 
him; and, reeling backwards some paces, he stooped, 
stumbled forward, and fell dead at the feet of the ele- 
phant; who, scorning to insult a fallen enemy, stood un- 
moved over the prostrate carcase. — Loud. Sport. Mag. 
TIGER HUNTING IN THE EAST INDIES. 
Osr Saturday last, the Potail of Mallegaum sent in to 
say a Tiger had been marked down, and three Officers, 
McMurdo of the H. A., Craigie, of the2Sth, and Brett, of 
the 31st, went out to kill it. On arriving at the ground 
they learned there were three Tigers, and their lair was 
pointed out by the villagers. After beating for sometime, 
the Tigers were on foot and Brett mortally wounded one 
of them, which, after a short struggle, died in a bush. 
They followed the others, and McMurdo got view of one 
of them, about sixty yards from him, which he fired at, 
but missed; the villagers from among the hills marked the 
brute into a clump of bushes, on the edges of a nullah; the 
circumference of these bushes was not more than sixty or 
seventy feet, and though they beat all round them, and 
thrust in sticks and the muzzles of their guns, the animal 
never moved. 
They then proposed going on further to look for it, and 
poor McM. said, “ Stop a moment till I put another ball 
in my gun.” They were all three close together, and 
about a yard from the bush. Craigie and Brett stepped 
aside to look at the Tiger’s foot-prints, when suddenly 
they heard a tremendous roar, and looked round, saw the 
brute with McM. in his grasp; he fell instantly. Craigie 
fired both barrels into the animal, which rolled over with 
McM. into the nullah. Brett ran up, missed with one 
barrel and hit him on the head with the other. So instan- 
taneous was the spring, and so close was McMurdo, that 
he had no time to use his gun; in fact, it was all over in a 
few seconds. Craigie and Brett had now to re-load. They 
saw the poor fellow in the nullah, (which was very shal- 
low,) making all the resistance that man could make; his 
left arm thrust down the brute’s throat, his right having 
been mangled in vain attempts to extricate himself. 
Whilst his companions were re-loading, a bold fellow, a 
native, ran in, picked up McMurdo’s gun, and fired the 
barrel that was primed into the animal, which then rolled 
over a few yards from the poor fellow; presently they 
heard him cry out, “Oh God! oh God! Craigie, Craigie, 
he is coming at me again! Craigie and the villagers then 
attacked and despatched the beast with stones: the whole 
sad business happened in much less time than the recital 
can give you an idea of. PoorMcM.’sstatewasmost dread- 
ful; his left thigh crushed to atoms, both arms dreadfully 
mangled and lacerated, two claw-marks on his face, and 
his side much bruised. He was a man of the most im- 
moveable nerve, and his courage was beyond every thing 
daring. He had killed two Tigers before, on foot; one of 
them by a shot which laid the animal at his feet almost 
touching him. 
When the first Tiger on Saturday was wounded, it was 
struggling in a bush, and McM. went up and finished it 
with as much coolness, as if it had been a wounded hare. 
When it was pulled out, he gave a jump in the air, say- 
ing, “By Jove! what capital sport we shall have if we 
can get them all three.” He was constantly out after wild 
animals, and meeting with adventures: v/as a capital and 
fearless horseman, and invariably a foremost rider in our 
hog hunts. He so entirely retained his presence of mind 
in his struggle with the Tiger, that he knew every shot 
that was fired, and when he spoke of the stones hitting it, 
the poor fellow smiled. He told Craigie to go and ex- 
amine the beast, and see if he had not hit him, when he 
took the shot at a distance. He said that for a month past 
he had an impression that he should meet with some acci- 
dent, “ but I had no idea it would be so bad as this, for I 
suppose I must lose my leg.” His firmness never forsook 
him for a moment; after about two hours he complained of 
thirst, and spasms in the stomach, and was evidently sink- 
ing: fast. He asked Craigie to loosen the silk handker- 
chief which had been applied as a tourniquet to stop the 
bleeding in the thigh; this, however, could not be done; 
he then became insensible, breathed hard for some time, 
then more and more faintly, and expired, without a groan 
or struggle, before medical aid could reach him. You may 
imagine how so fatal an adventure has affected all, though 
from his extraordinary daring, he was a man unlikely to 
come to a premature end. There was a strength of nerve 
in him as if nature had made him without the sense of 
fear: for, however critical his situation, he seemed uncon- 
scious of danger. 
THE CORK OAK-TREE. 
The Cork Oak ( Quercus suber ) is not so large a tree 
as the common oak. There are several varieties: a broad 
