ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 
I23 
in the high regions of Eastern Turkestan and Tibet, 
although it ascends the Himalaya to 11,000 feet. It 
is not found in the island of Ceylon. As it occurs 
under such varied climatic conditions, for what great¬ 
er contrast could there be than the climates of Sagha- 
lian and Java, it is subject to considerable variation in size, 
in colour, and in the character of its fur. The sleek, short- 
haired, richly coloured animals are found in the warm re¬ 
gions of Asia, whereas the tiger found among the snows of 
Manchuria is covered with long soft hair, has a shaggy 
ruff round its neck and a light coloured coat. Thus 
wisely does nature provide for the very different condi¬ 
tions in which the tiger exists in that cold but vigorous 
climate, so different from the hot steamy atmosphere 
of the jungles of Bengal where Stripes is to be seen 
in its greatest beauty. The size of the tiger varies 
considerably throughout these countries, and there 
are different feebly marked races. It is undoubtedly 
larger than the lion, but it lacks the nobility of mien so 
distinctive of that animal, and which is so heightenened 
by his splendidly maned, massive head and finely tufted 
tail. But in beauty and elegance of form, and in muscular 
power and activity, the tiger surpasses the lion. From 
« 
time immemorial it has been the accepted cognizance of 
royalty in oriental courts, having been kept alive in royal 
state, and its skin spread over thrones and judicial seats. 
It is a nocturnal feeder, although it occasionally kills its 
prey during daylight. It sometimes attacks the larger 
ruminants, such as the wild buffalo, but a well authenticated 
instance is known in which two wild buffaloes attacked a 
tiger in daylight in the Chutia Nagpur jungles, and left 
him hors de combat , but this is a rare circumstance, and a 
