V 
THE TIGER 
159 
the tiger generally claws the head, and at the same 
moment it fixes its teeth upon the shoulder. An 
Indian is generally slight, and shallow in the chest, 
therefore the wide-spread jaws can include both 
chest and back when seized in the tigers mouth. 
I have seen men who were thus attacked, and each 
claw has cut down to the skull, leaving clean 
incisions from the brow across the forehead and 
over the scalp, terminating at the back of the neck. 
These cuts were as neatly drawn across the skull as 
though done by a sharp pruning-knife; but the 
wounded men recovered from the clawing; the fatal 
wound was the bite, which through the back and 
chest penetrated to the lungs. 
It is surprising that so few casualties occur when 
we consider the risks that are run by unprotected 
natives wandering at all seasons through the 
jungles, or occupied in their daily pursuits, exposed 
to the attacks of wild animals. The truth is that 
the tiger seldom attacks to actually kill, unless it is 
driven, or wounded in a hunt. It will frequently 
charge with a short roar if suddenly disturbed, but 
it does not intend to charge home, and a shout from 
a native will be sufficient to turn it aside : it will 
then dash forward and disappear, probably as glad 
to lose sight of the man as he is at his escape from 
danger. Of course there are many exceptions when 
naturally savage tigers, without being man-eaters, 
attack and destroy unoffending natives without the 
slightest provocation; upon such occasions they leave 
the body uneaten, neither do they return to it again. 
