WILD BEASTS AND THEIR ATTRIBUTES.

Press, Volume XLIV, Issue 6877, 8 October 1887, Page 6

WILD BEASTS AND THEIR ATTRIBUTES.

Wild beasts, according to their species, have different modes and different powers of attack. The lion and the tiger do not differ much in this point, but the former is more courageous, and more ready for open combat than the latter. Given my choice as to which I would rather meet in a morning stroll, I should choose the tiger. An attack from either would be certain death, but the lion is always far more likely to face man than a tiger. The "king of beasts," as the former is sometimes named, fears not mankind to the extent his striped cousin does, and therefore, met face to face, would be more likely to fight. On the other hand, if the conditions were that both beasts should bo hid, and that I j must pass near either unconsciously, I would elect to take my chance with the i

lion; for though he, too, might spring on mc, his doing so or not would depend much on the state of his alimentary canal, id eat, if he were hungry or otherwise. Whereas, with tbe tiger's characteristic of lurking cunning, the mere fact at any time of not being seen tempts him to give play to his feline nature and attack his unsuspecting victim. MEETING A TIGER. Meeting a tiger is not really as dangerous as most people conceive 4tto.be. Nine times out of ten, when " stripes" and man come by chance face to face, both go off as quick as they can, different ways J The exception to this probability is in the case of a man-eating tiger, that is.onewholiveson, and prefers, human flesh to that of animals. Such is generally an old or more or less weak specimen of the race. Having found it hard work to conquer, .say a powerful buffalo or other.large animal, he turns his hand on man, possibly on a woman or child at first. The victory is easy; the food much to his liking. He does it again and again and thus becomes a man eater. To meet such a beast is, of course, very dangerous, for habit has obliterated his natural fear of the human race, while experience has taught bim how very easily, in spite of his weak state, he can master even the biggest human being. Man-eating tigers continue so to their death, but luckily they are quite exceptional, and their career is never a long one, for all, far and near, are interested In their destruction. Though, as said, the tiger, except he be a man-eater, fears man greatly, and will not as a rule attack him, once wounded he is no longer the same animal, for be is then quite reckless, and fears neither man nor any possible danger

j —whereas, when whole and hearty, he would probably slink away if even a child approached him ; being wounded, however slightly, bis blood is up, and* he will dare anything. When, in. India, AngloIndians on elephants beat a jungle, in quest of a tiger, he always gets away if he can; but h* some lucky bullet strikes him as he runs off, the hunters are then pretty sure of their game. The .wound possibly in no way prevents his flight, but the desire to escape is gone. He prefers to fight, and generally does so. With, say, a thick I Jungle close by in which he could hide j

himself, hescorn«f«* , "~"— s=^^"Sf andrxwsiblyspri" « topffiKtJ them, and pull off th*T %** «* «* of the neck. X*^££*^* he has even seized the ll"* 0 " 1 Wae «» elevated howdah T??-!?? rtsman « the in the character of the string f ar tralt makes tiger shoot n g o7 "EL?"* that dangerous. A bad slmf i '*° T «7 hi f mark, a long time with safety whT the /Port would very like* not re tu Jn th o A second rifle in such casts" may t>ger prostrate in his *• chances are much none perhaps ar * ' and fe », r d £, £* depends on the shot. Attacked by clr { fe hon or tiger, the procedure S, mLfr same. Both have Herculean atXSA he fore arm, sufficient to hatter 2 "Sen* large buffalo's thick skull, and biS, *\ a rule use the paw first upon the hL Mercifully.^thinthecaseofnianorUS death is instantaneous. Panthers fd leopards are not, .so strong. TheysSl the.r prey with their clawsj and u455 teeth more. An animal killed by.SJJ is generally fearfully claw-torn. Who. the spotted, cat-like leopard often sprlS on his victim from a tree, neither thelb, nor tiger can do this. Why the. latter Z not, or, at least, never does, climb tntar know not. His form and his claws wooU seem to argue otherwise. But so much! do kuow, you are safe up a tree wit*. tiger, not so with a leopard. Men» animals killed by a tiger have generate i the skull broken in or the spinal cord fn*. : tured by the sledge-hammor blow of H» , paw. I once saw a woman shortly after i t tiger had sprung on her. Her skull w» i in pieces, and there was no other wwujT i though the beast, who was not diatmW 1 for awhile, had laid upon her chest Had •. a leopard killed the woman he would hare ; mangled her much more. I would tnnch , rather be killed by a tiger than a leopardt BUFFALO SHOOTINB. Wild buffaloes, wild cattle, in fact, all horned beasts, of which, by-the-bye, tne» are several species on the Thibetan platen of the Himalayas, all attack, liko our !- English bull, with the head and lioras. r None of these are carnivorous, nor do thw 1 use their teeth, but many, having lalclttha £ victim low, mangle tho body with tjfaeif ~ feet by stamping on it. The wild buffi*, r of India is very large, and has enormous c strength. He is an awkward customer to t deal with when flghtingly inclined, and r this be very often is. The sight of a man, y apart from any provocation, is enough to s rouse him. He looks intently, shakiis hta r head with its enormous horns, and stamp* c the ground with his fore-foot. A cha'rgo j generally follows, and unless a tree la near \ to clamber up, the danger is imminent.' It c requires a large and well-directed baßrt i- to stop the black monster. There la, & therefore, quite danger enough in wilt \ buffalo shooting to make it exciting. c THE WAY A BO An FIGHTS.

The wild boar next claims atteritloti. { Pig-sticking in India—that is, huatiagjlilßt x on horseback with a spear—has been as | often described that, having nothing fier | to add here, I need not go Into detail of the j sport. Still, a few words as to tho waytaa r boar fights is wanting in his case as in that a of other animals. In one respect hereo sembles closely the tiger. As a rule ha fc will avoid man if he can, and when pure sued by even only one man and horse, will run for dear life across tho intervening plain to the shelter of the cover ahead y But once caught and wounded—nay, not even so much, for his wind failing hlft> Is sufficient irritation—he stops and fights till ho dies. Once his blood is up (and, as I [ r have said, loss of wind alone, the know 0 ledge be can run no further, la in itaelf a sufficient to rouse all his Ire) he acorns l- flight, and if even the cover he so ardttatty '-. sought is close by he will riot enter It. Jlo; B he stands ready to light, and from &( 1 time no wild beast of any kind can be wim t reckless, more courageous than bo is. Ho* > does he fight? Suppose, as above, t*»t ' only one man and horao has been in per--1 suit. The hunter knows, when tin boar stops, what to expect, and, ■if wise, faces him at some 60 or 80 pans distant and watches his enemy. Pigctf b out of breath, so remains stationary.Jjprt i few minutes; but his small eyes fla?h«t , his rage, and the white foam, aSi*^ s champs his jaws, sprinkles : his moots . and head. The big, white tushea/ hb ? fighting weapons, show out in their br%H ~ ivory whiteness against his black cheek*, 3 and the hunter possibly thinks they atsw » aro worth the danger of the coming fight. ' The boar has his wind now, and, wltSrai any warning, like the arrow bpm the bow, ho charges down with the speed . of the hare on the horseman.. There is only one thing to do to avoid disaster— meet him on hia'charge. So, ere ti» distance between them is much leeaeried the horse is at a gallop with that object. The pig, as they meet, tries to strikeihfl i, steed on tbe legs, or rip open his btllj s withhlstusk, carrying his head sldewijs t with that purpose. He seldom succeeds in r tho first, if the horseman knows his r business; but a wound from the tusk Is V not uncommon. The rider, as they toed, i the horse passing on the left side of (be . pig, Spears his antagonist. Sometime*, x though rarely, one spear kills the beast, > but much oftener the above is repeateJ t two or three times, until the still furfew j boar, charging as lonir aa strength laitt, t dies. Many other incidents may occur.fa t the flirht, but more space cannot hereto . given to portray still further the recklem , courage and daring of the wild boar of [ Hindustan. [ DOES THE BEAR HCO f > The bear is not a noble foe, for he lack* t courage. The female, however, is tas» I when she has young and they are'ls , daager. She is peculiarly jealous of an/ one approaching near the cave where tor : little ones are, and in tbat case will, with- - out hesitation, attack the offender. Bear* i have great strength in their fore liniba, i and when closing with a man. alpij* stand up on their hind legs and opea their arms, as if to embrace him. It is this, perhaps, which has given rlso to-the 1 belief that a bear kills his enemy by.litJ|Cglnghim. I never sawand neverhe&iuot a bear hugging a man, and yet have kaiow" several men who have been in a bear*Bgn> They, have very long,, rough claws, a&d these seem to be the weapons they invttiably use, though they bite also' wSa . deadly effect. The most marked cJjsnwteristic in bears is their love of mificfeJsf. They are not carnivorous (though H,i* said theysometimes eat flesh, I havenefW known it so) so one would suppose tt&f had no object in destroying life; and f& they often do so, apparently from the tore of mischief alone. THE BEAR'S LOVE Of MISOHIEr. < Another odd thing there is about bears, which, possibly, it may be thought, argoes their mischievous nature. When abW attacks a man and claws him, ft is generally far more on the face than on otto** parts of the body. It may be thought thfe is accounted for by the face being barejtß* rest of the body clothed, and that, tn«e* ', fore, the clawing takes more effect on fl» face. But this does not apply to nathr*» in India, who roam jungles, for they, as a rule, are entirely naked, with the eweption of a cloth about the loins. No.' B seems really as if the mischievous bear delighted to disfigure his enemy. It is w» unusual thing in India to see men with faces frightfully scarred and disfigured *ff beari'claws; and the fact that they a» often free' of any similar marks ontq* body first made mc ponder the matter and account'for it as I have above. -. axe mischievous, I believe, while the bagging theory,! disbelieve, and I think«» experience of others would tell the i*nie tAle.—Land and, Water.