THE TIGER.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 771, 10 December 1886, Page 8

THE TIGER.

Tee Rev. J. G. Wood, in " Good Woods.” Restricted to Southern Asia, the tiger is brought into much closer contact with civilisation than is the lion of ' Africa ; and, in consequence, ‘man-eating’ tigers are ■ farmore common than lions which possess the same terrible habit. The population of Asia is much more dense than that of Africa,, while the character cf the vegetation is such that it affords shelter to the tiger, almost on. the very borders of the villages. The causes for the practice of man-eating are the same as those which affect the lion. Were it not for the presence of civilised man, with his flocks and herds, a tiger never could reach old age. Its stiffening, or rather failing limbs would no longer 1 enable it to capture the deer and other active animals which are its natural prey, nor could its blunted teeth tear the dead carcase in pieces. Itrwould become more and more feeble, and in the course of nature would creep to some retired spot, and there breathe its last. . Blit the presence of civilised man gives it a longer

lease of life. For some time it cau haunt the outskirts of the villages, picking up a stray ox or goat, and thus sustaining life. As the infirmities of age make themselves felt, even so slight an exertion becomes too burdensome, and the animal finds that' an old wopian or a child that has strayed from the shelter of the house is a still easier prey. When once established in either oE these stages of artificial life, the tiger becomes the most terrible foe that the mind of man can conceive. In the graphic language of Colo* nel W. Campbell, ‘a confirmed man-eater always lurks in the neighborhood of villages, or close to some well-frequented road, and rarely preys upon any other animal but man. When a tiger thus quarters himself almost at the doors of the inhabitants a curse has indeed fallen upon them. The ryots, cannot cultivate their fields but at the risk of their lives. The wcmen dare not fetch ■water from the well.. The persecuted laborers, returning at sunset from their daily toil, may be 3een hurrying along at headlong speed,' and uttering loud yells in hope of scaring their hidden foe. Peace and security are bannished from that devoted village. Day after day some member of the little community disappears —the land is filled with mourning, and the death-lament comes swelling ,on the evening breeze, in- j stead of the gay notes of the zittar and the merry laugh of the light-hearted maidens. The destroying fiend revels in blood, and becomes daily more open in his attacks. ’ In ono district only, that of Kandeish, the officer in command reported that, during his four years’ tenure of the post the tigers killed annually an average of ninety human beings and six thousand cattle. An old man-eater develops an amount of cunning which is simply appalling. It never remains for any length of time in one place, but incessantly travels from one village to another, concealing itself with the utmost art, carrying off one of the inhabitants, and immediately making its way to some distant spot. A single tiger has been known to paralyse a triangular district of some forty miles in extent. The natives feel themselves powerless, and all that they can think of is to offer ?rice to their numerous divinities. Their onlyreal hope lies in the European, whom they despise and abhor as an unbeliever, but respect for his powers. Mounted on trained elephants, and guided by native trackers, most belonging to the Bheel tribe, the English hunters first discover the beast in its hiding-place, and then destroy it. A .remarkable instance of the cunning of an old man-eater is narrated by Colonel W. Campbell in his 'lndian Journal.’ A man-eating tigress had been tracked for four days-by the Bheels, and at last ‘ harbored,’ as staghunters say, in a small thicket. As the party approached the tigress charged them, and then retreated to the thicket. The elephant was taken through the cover, but the tigress had slipped them. Guided by a Bheel, who walked by the elephant’s side, the track was followed for some distance, j Making a circuit, it led back to the thicket, i but again the cover was empty. On making a * cast ’ to discover the lost track, a fresh footprint of a tiger was seen over that of the elephant. ■ Again a circuit was made, and with the same result. Completely puzzled, the Bheel was about to start off on foot in search of the track, when one of the hunters happened to look back and saw the tiger crouching behind the elephant, and scarcely visible. The crafty animal had been creeping after the elephant, waiting opportunity of pouncing on the Bheel as soon as he left his shelter. Had it not been for the casual glance by which the position of the animal was detected the device would have been successful. As it was the hunter placed a bullet between her eyes a 3 she was watching the Bheel. whom she instinctively knew to be the real element of danger to her. The exultation of the little man may be conceived. Comedy and tragedy go hand in hand in these'hunts. An amusing example of the former is given by the same traveller. A tiger had been wounded, but although one of its hind legs was broken it made its way into a patch of high grass and hid there. Guided by the Bheels, the elephant entered the grass patch for the purpose of driving out the tiger. The cunning animal allowed the party to pass, and then sprang at one of the Bheels, ‘ a little, hairy, bandy-legged man, more like a satyr than a human being.’ The Bheel dashed at the nearest tree, and, owing to the broken leg of the tiger, was able to climb out of reach. Finding himself safe, the Bheel * commenced a philippic against the father, mother, sisters, aunts, nieces, and children of his helpless enemy, who sat with glaring eyeballs fixed on his contemptible little enemy, and roaring as if his heart would break with rage. As the excited-orator, warmed by his own eloquence he began skipping from branch to branch, grinning and chattering with the emphasis of an enraged baboon; pouring out a torrent of the most foul abuse, and attributing to the tiger's family in general,, and his female relatives in particular, every crime and atrocity that ever was or will be committed. Occasionally he varied his insults .by roaring In imitation of the tiger ; and at last,- when fairly exhausted, he leaned forward till he appeared • to be within the grasp of the enraged anipaal, and ended this inimitable scene by spitting in his face.’ 'Sometimes the tragic element prevails. In one of these too

numerous instances a man-eater, which for six months had been the terror of the neighborhood, had been traced down, and was seen to creep into a ravine. The beaters were at once ordered off, as they could not be of service, and might be charged by the tiger, which had already been rendered furious by. a wound. Unfortunately these men are in the habit of half intoxicating themselves with opium before driving the tiger from its refuge, and one of them who had taken too large a dose refused to escape, and challenged the tiger, drawing his sword and waving it defiantly. In a moment the animal sprang upon him, dsshed him to the ground with a blow of his paw, and turned to bay. After a series of desperate charges he was killed.. The hunters then went to the assistance of the wounded man, but found that he was past all aid,; the lower part of his face, including both jaws, having been carried away as if by a cannon ball. The terrific effect of the single blow indicates the power of the limb whioh struck it. Had the blow taken effect a few inches higher the whole of the head would have been carried away. By a similar blow a tiger has been known to crush the skull of an ox so completely that when handled the broken bones felt as if they - were loose in ,a bag. The wonder at this terrific strength dimishes when the limb is measured. The tiger which killed this foolhardy man was by no means a large one, measuring 9 feet 5 inches from the nOse to the tip of his tail ; yet the girth of the forearm was 2 feet 7 inches. The corresponding limb of a very powerful man scarcely exceeds a foot in circumferance. I have not had the opportunity of dissecting a tiger, hut I have helped to dissect a lion, which is possessed of similar powers, and was struck with wonder at the tremendous development of the muscles of the forelegs. Not until it becomes a man-eater is the tiger much dreaded, especially in the case of those natives who do not possess flocks or herds. Indeed, when an Englishman has offered to kill a tiger whose lair was well known, he has been requested not to do so, as the tiger did no harm, and killed so many deer that it supplied the neighbors with meat. A remarkable example of this mutual fellowship between man and tiger is narrated by Colonel Campbell. Hearing shrieks of distress he ran to the rescue, and found that they proceeded from a young lad of fifteen, on whom his father, a celebrated hunter and bushranger named Kamah, was operating with a bamboo. His crime (?) was that he had killed a tiger. Most people would have thought it a gallant action, and felt proud of their son. Not so Kamah, who was full of angry regret. ‘lt is all very well for those who live in the open country to wage-war with tigers, but with us, who live on social terms with them in the jungle, the case is different. I have no quarrel with the tigers. I never injured one of them—they never injured me ; and while there was peace between us I went, among them without fear of danger. But now that this young rascal has picked a quarrel there is no saying where the feud will end,’ Whereupon the discip-line-of the bamboo was renewed. The tigress is much more to be dreaded as a man-eater than the male animal. Should she happen to have cub 3 it is necessary to kill the entire family, as the young ones have been accustomed from the first to feed on human flesh, and begiD, instead of ending, by being maneaters. Sometimes the tiger is captured alive, and then, as a- rule, it loses all its fiery courage, and becomes an abject coward. There are a few exceptions, as in the case of * Jungla,’ the once celebrated fighting tiger belonging to a late King of Oude. Besides being a singularly fine animal, he was remarkable for having most of the stripes on his sides double. Between many of the double stripes were a number of little spots like those of the leopard, gathered most thickly on the shoulders and flanks. In the jungle a tiger .would make short work of any buffalo, blit when the animals are pitted against each other in an enclosure the tiger shows no fight, letting itself be tossed -without offering any resistance. In one such fight, if fight it could be called, a single buffalo was matched against two tigers, and did what he liked with them, so that at last the spectators shot the wounded animals out' ; of compassion.* .Tungla, however, was made of sterner stuff, and was never vanquished. I had an opportunity of seeing him when he was brought to Ehgland in 1869, and a good portrait, of him was executed by Mr Harrison Wair for my '* Illustrated Natural History.’ When pitted against a buffalo he bided his time, sprang at the head, and with a mixed blow and wrench dislocated its neck, his hind feet being on the ground. These semi-tame tigers, which are kept for fighting purposes, form a connecting link between the wild animals and those which are kept in menageries for the purpose of exhibition.