Chap. II. of ths E a s 
* Woods, where the Tygers Frequented, and there left them 
tied to Trees. By this Contrivance they obtained a Spe- 
cies of Dogs fo fierce and ftrong, that they were not afraid 
of attacking even a Lion : And it was of this Breed 
.that Scpithes, an Indian King, prefented fome to Alexander 
the Great ; of which we have a particular Account in the 
Hiftory of Diodorus Siculus. Alexander , having a mind to 
make an Experiment of their Strength and Coinage, . let 
loofe a large Lion upon two of them, which not being 
3 able to manage him, he ordered two other Dogs to be let 
:go : The Lion, being furrounded by thefe four, was 
very foon over-powered *, upon which the Indian King 
Tent a Perfon with a Sword, who cut off the Right Thigh 
co.f one of the Dogs by little and little ; and, in fpight of all 
the Pain he endured, the Dog neither howled, nor let go ; 
but held the Lion fall, till he fell down dead. The Num- 
ber of thefe Creatures, given to Alexander by this Indian 
Prince, was one hundred and fifty, which that Hero 
lefteemed a very valuable Prefent 3 . 
A Dutch Traveller informs us, that in the Kingdom of 
Congo the Tygers feldom or never attack white Men ; 
land, as a Proof of it, he tells us, that when he was there, 
a Tyger furprifed a white Man arid a Black afleep, and 
•immediately tore the Negro to-pieces, but left the White 
runtouched : And we have the fame thing afferted by other 
Writers, but, I think, without any good Grounds, farther 
than as it may be fuppofed, that the Tygers are better ac- 
quainted with the Blacks in thofe Countries ; and, therefore, 
•may be more apt to attack a Prey they have been ufed 
to b . 
In the V oyages of Walter Schouten we have a very cu- 
rious Account of thefe Creatures •, and, as that Dutch 
Writer is highly efteemed for his ftridt Regard to Truth, 
the Reader will not, probably, be difpleafed with the Tranf- 
dation of what he has given us upon this Subject. 4 It 
4 is very true, fays he, that the Tyger thirfts as much af- 
6 ter human Blood, as after that of Beafts. He catches 
4 a Man exa&ly as a Cat does a Moufe, and carries him 
4 off with as much Eafe. At the firft Leap he flicks his 
4 fore Paws into the Shoulders, or, rather, a little below 
4 them ; and, having brought the Man down, lie ftrikes 
4 his Teeth, on both Sides, through his Ribs. One may 
4 very well fay, that a Man is loft, upon whom a Tyger 
4 lets his Lyes : The Sight of them, and the being at- 
* tacked, are, in a manner, inftantaneous •, fo that the 
4 Fright, and the being pall all Fright, is over in two or 
4 three Minutes. The Defarts of Bengal are fomewhat 
4 lefs dangerous in the Light than in the Dark ; for then 
4 the Tygers quit their Thickets and Caverns, and come 
4 even into Houfes and Villages, where they feize any 
4 they find abroad, and tear them to-pieces. They have 
4 even the Boidnefs to attack Men on Horfeback ; as 
4 alfo the largeft and ftrongeft Buffaloes of that Country, 
4 which are of an extraordinary Size : They, generally, 
4 leap upon their Shoulders, and tear them to-pieces in an 
4 inftant *, fome Inftances of which happened while we 
4 were there. It is looked upon as a Thing certain among 
* the Indians , that the Tyger and Rhinoceros live in great 
4 Harmony together. There are many of both Sorts of 
4 thefe Creatures in the Woods of Bengal , and it is never 
4 known, that they attack each other. The Reafon which 
4 the Indians give for this is very fingular: They fay that 
| 4 Tygers, after gorging themfelves with the Flefh of 
' 4 Men or Beafts, grow extremely fick, and find Relief by 
• 4 eating the Dung of the Rhinoceros, which, as it feeds 
4 chiefly upon green Herbs, that are of great Virtue, they 
4 are ftill very wholfome, even when they have paffed 
€ through his Body ; of which they ' appear to be very 
4 thoroughly perfuaded, fince they frequently make ufe 
4 of the fame Medicine themfelves.* The fame Writer 
tells us, , that in this Part of the Indies they are forced 
4 to travel in Company, for fear of thefe mercilefs Crea- 
4 tures ; and that their Dogs, when they hear the Cry of 
4 them in the Woods, tremble, and fweat in a moft fur- 
4 prifing Manner. The People, however, at certain 
4 Seafons of the Year, affemble in great Numbers to 
a Diodor. SicuL lib. xvii. Curtius, lib. ix. b Voyage de P. *v, 
Je Hijl. Anirn. lib. viii. JElian, lib . iv. cap. 49. lib. V. cap. 40. lib. XV. cap. 
f liotbeque Orientate, p. 700. 
t Ini 
4 hunt the 1 
4 their Conjiu 
4 is, at once, a 
4 Fear e . There 
and, it is faid, in Amet.. 
ther the latter are at all of the . 
the former, though they are very i... 
Mifchief, efpecially in the Dutch Settlement, 
Cape of Good Hope , yet they are far below the Size 
an Indian T yger, and are only equal at moft to the fecund 
Sort. This Difference is occaftoned, in all Probability, 
by fome Mixture in the Breed ; for it appears plainly, by 
comparing the Accounts of antient Writers with thofe of 
modern Travellers, that it was the large Indian Tyger 
was known to the former, and not the fmaller Sorts, 
which, if then exifting, were called by other Names. 
13. The Leopard and Panther are the Male and' Fe- 
male of the fame Species, which, though not equal in 
Size* is very little inferior in Strength, to the Lion, and 
not at all lefs mifehievous, It is not, "however, very 
common for them to attack Men, at leaft if they are not 
under the Nece fifty of doing it ; for, in that Cafe, there is 
no Creature bolder. The Skins of thefe Animals were 
much valued by the Antients, on account of the Beauty 
and Regularity of their Spots, which, as I before cbferved, 
were final I, and of a femicircnlar Figure, not unlike an 
Half-moon d : But on the Shoulder they were fuppofed 
to have a larger Mark, which not only . refembled, but 
was in a manner governed by the Moon, increafing as fhe 
did, and decreafing likewife in the fame manner ; having 
now blunt Points, now ftiarp, and fometimes a complete 
Orb, like the Fui Moon e . One would find it more diffi- 
cult to believe, that fuch Opinions as thefe would gain 
Credit with Men of Learning and Senfe, if there were 
not Inftances, even in our Days, of as ridiculous No- 
tions prevailing with Men who pretend to follow no other 
Lights than thofe of Reafon and Experience. 
The Antients tell us, that thefe Creatures had a very 
fingular way of hunting. They derive from Nature a 
kind of mufky Smell, which being agreeable to Deer, 
Goats, and other Animals, they were wont to frequent 
the Flaunts of the Panthers, till at the Sight of her fierce 
Countenance they were frighted, and fled; which this Crea- 
ture obferving, fhe contrived to hide herfelf behind the 
Buffies, that, when thefe Animals were attracted by her 
Smell, fhe might leap on them at once ; by which Me- 
thod fhe eafily furprifed them. The Indians hunt them 
very affiduoufiy, as well for their Flefh, which they efteem 
very wholfomeas well as favoury, as for the fake of taking 
their Young, which they breed up tame; and then prefent 
them to their Kings, who breed them up for hunting ; 
and find them not only fuperior to any kind of Dogs in 
Swiftnefs and Strength, but in Fidelity alfo ; for they 
conftantiy bring back what they take without tearing it : 
And, even to this Day, it is found, that they make ufe 
of the fame Method of inticing their Prey that has been 
before deferibed from the Antients. The Arabians call 
this Creature Beber ; the T links, Joz *, and the Tartars , 
Jem : But the general Name of them through the Eaft, 
is, Pars , which is a Perfian Word ; and it fignifies, alfo, 
the Country of Perfia , properly fo called : And hence it 
is, that the Perfon, who has the Care of thefe Creatures 
that are kept for the hunting of the Grand Signor, is cal- 
led Parfigi : And fo jealous they are in the Indies of this 
kind of Sport, that no private Man is permitted to hunt 
with Leopards f . 
When the Panther has young ones, it is reported, that 
the Leopard, though much ftronger, will not defend him- 
felf againft her, but buffers himfelf to be very ill treated, 
till the young ones are grown up, and able to fhift for 
themfelves. It is certain, that, however fierce in their Na- 
ture, the Panthers are extremely tender of their Whelps ; 
of which Pliny gives us a very fingular Inftance. A 
Panther, by fome Accident or other, had her whole Lit- 
ter tumbled into a deep Pit, out of which fhe was not able 
to deliver them. In this Diftrefs flie went to the next 
in de Bred’, p. 397. e Voyage aux Lutes, p. 331, d Ariftot. 
14. e PUn. Pat. Hip, lib. viii. cap. 17. f Herbelot Bi- 
High- 
