20 
THE TIGER. 
and devoured. But to the great joy of the company he j 
soon came back, though bleeding and torn in the most 
dreadful manner. The balls which the gentlemen had 
fired, wounded the Tiger, so that he was soon obliged to 
stop running, and his bleeding made him so weak, that j 
Mr. Munro, by exerting all his strength, finally got away 
from him. But the cruel beast had wounded the unfor- 
tunate man so terribly, about his head and neck, that he ) 
died in a few days. This animal, says the same account, ) 
was four feet and a half high, and nine feet long, and 
his roar, when he sprang upon Mr. Munro, was horrible j> 
beyond description. > 
ANECDOTE II. 
The following singular story of the tameness and do- j 
cility of a young Tiger, is taken from Bingley’s Animal ( 
Biography. Perhaps there is not another instance where t 
this animal has been so tame and kind. It was not, 
however, the Royal Tiger, but one of a smaller kind. < 
In the year 1790, a beautiful young Tiger was brought \ 
from China, in a ship called the Pitt. This animal was j 1 , 
so kind and tame as to be quite harmless, and was as <, 
playful as a kitten. It often slept with the sailors, and 
while lying on deck in the day time, warming itself by 
the sun, would suffer two or three of the men to lay their 
heads on its back, as on a pillow. It would often, how- l 
ever, steal the sailors’ meat before it was cooked, and l 
hide itself away to make a comfortable meal of it. One ( 
day, a sailor happening to see him steal his meat, fol- ( 
lowed the animal, took the meat away from him, and 
gave him a severe beating for the theft. This the ani- 
mal bore with all the patience of a dog. He would often j 
run up the mast, or jump from one rope to another, with '( 
surprising agility. He would also play with a dog, < 
which was on board the ship, in a manner so diverting, ( 
as greatly to amuse the sailors. This animal, when < 
first taken on board the ship, was only about a month \ 
old. When he was a year old, he was given as a pres¬ 
ent to the king of England, who had him confined in the 
Tower of London, a place where wild animals are kept. 
Here he was put into a den, and had a keeper to take 
care of him, but continued so good natured, that when he 
was two years old, his keeper ventured to put a small 
dog into his den. The Tiger was so kind to the poor ( 
little animal, that he did it no injury, and soon after, j 
became so attached to it, as to appear quite uneasy when \ 
it was taken away to be fed, for the keeper, at first, did 
not dare to let it eat with the Tiger. When the dog \ 
was brought, and put into the den again, the Tiger 
always showed signs of pleasure, and would lick the little 
animal, as a cat does her kitten. In one or two instan- 
ces, the dog was left, by mistake, in the den, when the j 
Tiger was fed, and ventured to eat with him. This the < 
Tiger did not appear to like, but was not so angry at the 
offense as to injure his little companion. After having 
thus lived with the Tiger for several months, this dog 
was taken out, and another put in, of about the same 
size. Care was taken to feed the Tiger well, before his 
new companion was put in. The Tiger seemed to like 
this dog just as well as he did the other, and began to 
lick him as he did the other. At this, however, the little 
• 
animal was greatly alarmed, and tried to get out of his 
way ; but when he found that he was not to be hurt, he 
became quiet, and in a day or two appeared perfectly con¬ 
tented with his situation. The Tiger would allow this 
little dog to play with him, without showing the least 
sign of anger. Sometimes he would bark at him, and 
bite his mouth or his foot. Of this the Tiger took no 
notice, except now and then, to hold up his foot so high, 
that the little animal could not reach it. 
More than two years after this animal had been placed 
in the Tower, one of the men, who came over in the 
ship with him, and the same one who beat him for steal¬ 
ing his meat, came to see him. This man and the 
Tiger had been attached to each other, while on board 
the ship, but had not met since. The animal instantly 
knew him, and rubbing himself backward and forward 
on the side of his cage, seemed greatly delighted at see¬ 
ing an old friend. This man asked the keeper to let him 
go into the den with the Tiger, but was at first refused, 
for fear the animal would tear him in pieces. The man, 
however, declared that there was no danger, and after 
a good deal of persuasion, the keeper let him in. The 
animal showed every mark of joy in his power on this 
occasion. He rubbed himself against him, like a cat, 
licked his hands, and caressed him in the fondest man¬ 
ner. The man remained with him two or three hours, 
and such was the kindness of the Tiger towards him, 
that he began to be afraid that he would keep him there 
against his will, for he did not like the idea of staying 
with him through the night. The keeper, therefore, con¬ 
trived to get the animal into another den, when the man 
escaped. 
ANECDOTE III. 
In the East, it is not uncommon for kings and princes, 
to exhibit combats between wild animals, for the amuse¬ 
ment of the people. This is a barbarous and cruel prac¬ 
tice, and is sometimes so conducted, as to excite feelings 
of pity, towards animals, which on other occasions, are 
only seen with fear or hatred. 
The king of Siam, in India, ordered a combat between 
a Tiger of the largest size, and three elephants. For 
this purpose he had a large piece of ground enclosed 
with a high fence, in which the animals were placed, 
and on the outside of which, the people might stand, and 
by looking through the fence, could see the fight with- 
