THE STORY OF THE TIGER. 
My first direct knowledge of the jungle tiger was obtained in a manner 
startling in the extreme to both the beast and myself. I was out but a short 
distance from our camp near Calcutta when I noticed a band of monkeys in the 
distance. They were perched in the tops of some trees and were chattering 
incessantly. I approached them rather incautiously, desiring to acquaint 
myself with the cause of the commotion. When under the nearest tree I 
chanced to look at the ground just ahead, where I saw crouched a tiger of 
immense size. The surprise was mutual and for a moment each of us hesitated, 
neither seeming prepared for the meeting. Fortunately, I was standing beside 
the trunk of the tree with low hanging branches, and I swung up among them 
before the tiger had fully grasped the situation. I remained in the tree for a 
half day, at the end of which time a party came out from the camp in search 
of me. The tiger was still on guard, and paid the penalty with his life. 
Whether the lion or the tiger is the more powerful animal, is a question 
which has given rise to much discussion, but the opinion of those most com¬ 
petent to- decide is in favor of the superiority in this respect of the latter. 
The absence of the mane, which forms such a striking feature in the male lion, 
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