THE STEALTHY TIGER.

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 193, 14 August 1909, Page 15

THE STEALTHY TIGER.

A correspondent of the "Times" give* some first-hand experiences of tigers, with, special reference to the beast's faculty foe making himself invisible. "I have," be declares, "eeen a tiger, sitting up a hundred yards from, mo in tho sunlight washing his face like a cat, more a couple of steps into the shade, ami fade away Ilka the Cheshire Cat iv 'Alice In Wonderland. , But what is more extraordinary Is that he can move without some dry leaf or stalk cracking to betray him. After a period of strained watching, when the eye can and does detect the movement of the tiniest bird, tho quiver of a leaf, suddenly, without a sound, the great beast stands before you. Ho docs not always care to move quietly; but wlieu he does death is not more silent." The tiger's voice is referred to as that wonderful voice, the most mournful sound in captivity, "which literally Ihushee the jungle and fills the twilight with horror." Often as I have heard It, the memory of one occasion is as vivid as the moment when It held mc spellbound. I was stalking sambhur in the evening In a glade in the forest when suddenly from not fifty yard* above mc rang out a long, low, penetrating moan which seemed to fill the jungle with a terrifying thrill, and for a moment made the heart stand still. Unless you are following the tiger and have seen him. It is almost impossible from the sound alone to tell with any certainty where he Is,