CHAPTER V 
THE TIGER {fELIS TIGRIS) 
There is no animal that has exercised the imagin¬ 
ation of mankind to the same degree as the tiger. 
It has been the personification of ferocity and 
unsparing cruelty. 
In Indian life the tiger is so closely associated 
with the elephant (as the latter is used in pursuit) 
that I select this animal in sequence to the former, 
from which in the ideas of sporting Indians it is 
almost inseparable. 
It is necessary to commence the description of 
the tiger with its birth. The female rarely produces 
more than three, and generally only two. These 
arrive at maturity in about two years. 
There is a considerable difference in the size of 
the male and female. I have both measured and 
weighed tigers, and I have found a great difference 
in their proportions, such as may be seen not only 
in many varieties of animals, but also in human 
beings ; it is therefore difficult to decide upon the 
actual average tiger, as they vary in separate locali¬ 
ties, according to the quantity of wild animals in the 
