10 
ROYAL BENGAL TIGER. 
! foot soldiers. To effect the capture of this dreaded beast, large ( 
| nets are stretched out, the jungle is surrounded, the tall grass set [ 
on fire, and the tiger is driven with shouts and other noises to- 1 
wards the nets, where he is shot at from little houses, which are ( 
constructed for the purpose on trees, or on strong poles, or from 
j the hacks of elephants. The Bengal Tiger is one of the many ) 
j wild animals that cannot he subdued to the will of man — in j 
captivity, his temper is not softened either by constraint or kind- 
j ness— he seems insensible to the attention of his keeper, and is 
j as ready to tear the hand that feeds as he is that by which he is 
j chastized. His strength is prodigious, and can carry off a calf or \ 
i a deer with such apparent ease that it seems to he no impediment j 
i to the rapidity of his flight. He seldom pursues his prey, hut \ 
I springs upon it from a place of ambush, with elasticity, and from 1 
i a distance of fifteen or twenty feet. He will attack all kinds of l 
I animals, even the lion — between whom frequent combats have j 
) beem maintained, and in which both have been known to perish. ( 
| The usual length of the tiger is from five to six feet, exclusive of j 
| the tail, which is about two and a half feet long. His symmetry f 
j is perfect, and his appearance is majestic. He has a rounder / 
J head than the lion— is clothed with short hair, and has no mane, 
j His coat is of a tawny color on top and sides, and white below, 
j with irregular crossed black stripes over the body, neck and sides ( 
j of the head. A traveler gives an account of a battle between j 
j a tiger and two elephants in Siam, of which he was an eye wit- j 
| ness. He says : “The arena was enclosed by a high palisade of j 
) bamboo canes. One of the elephants approached the tiger, which | 
I j was confined by cords, and dealt him two or three heavy blows J 
| with its trunk, and the tiger lay for some time as if he were ( 
| dead ; hut, notwithstanding this attack had a good deal abated j 
I his fury, he was no sooner relieved from the cords than with a f 
j fearful roar he made a spring at the elephant’s trunk, which that i 
j animal dexterously avoided by drawing it up, caught the infuria- I 
I j ted tiger upon its tusks and threw him into the air. Both ele- [ 
; phants were then allowed to come up, and would have undoubt- j 
[) edly killed the royal beast if an end had not been put to the j 
! combat.” Under such restraints, it is not surprising that the j 
j tiger was worsted in the combat ; but it can be imagined of what j 
