THE SUMATRAN TIGER. 
133 
confinement, were remarkable for playful¬ 
ness and docility: no domestic kitten could 
be more so. They were always courting 
intercourse with persons passing by; and the 
expression of their countenances—which was 
open and playful—showed the greatest de¬ 
light when noticed, throwing themselves on 
their backs and delighting in being tickled 
and rubbed. On board ship there was a 
small Musi dog which used to play around 
the ship and with the animals; and it was 
amusing to watch the playfulness and tender¬ 
ness with which the latter came in contact 
with his inferior-sized companion. When 
fed with a fowl which had died, he seized 
the prey, and, after sucking the blood and 
tearing it a little, he amused himself for 
hours with throwing it about and jumping 
after it in the same manner that a cat plays 
with a mouse before it is quite dead. He 
never seemed to look upon men or children 
as prey, but as companions; and the natives 
assert that when wild they subsist princi¬ 
pally upon poultry, birds and the smaller 
kinds of deer. They are never found in 
numbers, and may be considered as rather 
a rare animal even in the southern part of 
12 
