CARNIVORA. 
35 
its face and head in the body of its preyi and thus 
proceed in the work of destructioUj though it might 
seem to have gorged enough to satisfy the most 
voracious appetite. 
Tiger hunting is a fertile source of amusement, 
particularly to the great men of the East, and may 
be called a royal sport ; a sport which, in addition 
to the usual excuse pleaded for hunting, in general, 
has a real recommendation from the service it does 
to mankind. The indefensible pastime of setting 
the tiger, in a state of confinement, to fight with the 
buffalo, and sometimes with men, as a punishment 
for crimes, is also much in use ; a practice which, 
to a far greater extent, formerly disgraced even the 
Augustan age of the western world, and has left 
almost imperishable memorials of its prevalence, and 
of its importance to the* people, in the now bloodless 
amphitheatres of Italy. 
Tiger skins vary as to the number of stripes, and 
brightness of the colours, which latter abates in some 
degree when the animal is living under restraint, 
and much more when a skin is dried and prepared 
for commercial purposes. The tigress produces four 
or five young at a time, and has been known to breed 
when confined. In common with the lion and the 
rest of the genus it possesses all the characteristics 
of the cat. 
The opposite group is taken from a drawing by 
Major Smith ; it represents a tigress, six years old, 
which was confined in New York, where the drawing 
D £ 
