H U N T E R S COMING RY SURPRISE ON A T IGRES S AND CUBS.
I have no hositalioii in saying, lluil at least a majority of such as liavo been
under my notice have died ; and I liavc generally remarked, lhal llioso ivliosc
eases appeared llie least alarming, were most suddenly carried oH'. I have ever
t h o u g h t the perlurhalion arising from ihc nature of the attack, to have a considcrahlo
share in the fatality alluded to, especially as I never knew any one
wounded by a tiger, to ,lie xvilliont snfliring for some days under that most
d r c a d f n l symptom, a locked j aw! Such as Itave been wounded to appearance
severely, but accompanicd «ith a moderate hiemorrhagc, I have commonly
found lo recover, e.ieepliug in the rainy season. At that period I should
expect serious consecjuenees from either a bile or a scratch.
T i g e r s and wild hogs often have de.sperato contests; the tiger usually is
victorious i bul iiislanecs have occurred ivhereboth have been found dead, each
leaving the marks of his adversary's prowess.
T h e opinion entertained that a tiger will not at any time approach fire, is
c a r r i e d much too far; it is true that they arc extremely averse to i t ; but when
h u n g r y , nothing will deter them from tlieir objcet. The posts Ihrougliout India
travel on foot, one man carrying the n.ail over his shoulder, and accompanied
a t night, as also through all suspicious places in the ihiy time, by one or more
men with small drums, and eventirally a taircujmir, or archer. Yet this precaut
i on does not suffice lo intimidate the ravenous animal during the day, however
great his antipathy lo noise, anymor e than two strong tlamheaus which
t h e postman has at night. I recollect im instance of a tiger occupying a
spot in Goomeah pass for near a fortnight, during which time he daily carried
away a man ; generally one of the diak. or postmen. At one lime he' was disappointed
of his meal, as he by mistake carried off the Icall.er bag instead of
Its bearer; ],ut the following night he seized one of the lorehmen, and soon
disappeared with him.
A melancholy proof exists of the little respect a tiger pays to lire, whe n hard
jnit to for a meal, in the well known fact of a young gentleman, of arespectable
laimly and o( the most amiable qualifications, having been taken away hv one
when benighted on Sanger' s Island, at ti.e entrance of the Hoogldv Rivei-; erro^
ueonsly Icrmed the Ganges, as a jiarty were sitting by a lire wliieh had been
kilKlled tor the purpose of security. The tiger sprang througl, the flames, and
e a r n e d oil the unfortunate victim in spite of the efforts of his companions, who
^vel•e wel l provided with fire arms.
Colonel Harpur, who was Resident at the Court of the Nabob of Ondc
b u j a h Dou-lah, save<l his Highness' s life by the accuracy of his aim. A royal"
liger, which was started in beating a large cover for game, sprang up so far
into the umbarrn, state howdah, in „ hid, Snjah Dowlah was seated as to
leave litt e douhl of a fatal issue. The Colonel, sensible of the imminent
danger ,vh,eh ihreateued Sujah Dowlah, availe.l himself of ihe speed of the
elephant on which he ,vas mounted, and pushing up lo the Nabob' s side, shot
13
t h e liger through Ihe hea,l. For an iut,.resting exhibition of ihi, propensity in
tigers to spring, ,i,e reader is referred to Plate XVIII. whereii, a , ineiln
which took place near Daii.lpore, is particularly ,lescrihe,l.
At what age cubs arc able to provide food for ihem.selves „-main, a, vel uu
certain. .Indging from the nature of ihe animal, we may conclmie that Is firsi
imaeks are made upon sn.aller prey, such a, goals, s h e i , calves, ice. and ^
Us b„hlne.<s eiicreases will, ils growth. They rarely allack hut when certain
of siiceess; nor ,lo they Ire.pieut the si,les of roads, or altempl to sei.,: cattle
until arrived at then- full growth, which may be eousi.lcre.l a, about ,w„ . „ar.;
ol age. In Ihi, p„„,t we may occasionally (in,I variations, chietly arising from
local or temporary eircnmslances.
The number of stragglers taken by tigers from a line of mar when trooos
m-e proceeding through a elosc country, would surprise person, unacciistom d
10 such eve,Its. I liave known Ihree centric, Carrie,I otf in on,, night bci.l,-,
several camp followers, >vho fi.|l viclims to lh,.ir impatience eir al tcmpl , lo
gel a-hcad „1 the hue by taking short cuts throngh jungles. These b.-come ev
tren,ely dangerous on su,.h occasions, owing lo tl„. great noise an,I concourse of
l.er.,on, prcccling the Iroops, which move at an early hour in the mo„,i„„
perl,a|,s at two or three o'clock, an.l forming a constant cliain of . l islurbanc to
all annuals near the route, so as to occasion their re,¡ring to some small
Ihslanee Iron, its verge ; for, as has alr,.a.lv be,.,, stal.-d, ihe tiger will not
uule.ss nnpelled by huuge,-, attack i„ „„ open or f,-,.,p„.nie,| .,¡,u„,io„, but'
.[Ulckly avails himself of Ihe oj.portnnity afli.rdcl by ihe .levialing traveller lo
secure a pi-ey.
The elephants which convey tents, &c. for the hr.-aklisl apparatus ,„.
usually dispalchcl .some hours befo,-e the troops are parallel, and in ,„a„'y i„
stances tigi-rs have been discovc-ed by those sagacious anin.als. Ca,uel, do uot
possess so ,|inek an nislinel in this partienia,-. Once, in,h.e,l, I saw an insfmce
ot an attack ma.le by a tiger on a camel la,len will, ihc baggage of a .soubadar.
t h e tiger spraug f,om a bank about seven feet high with inteot to sei,e
tl,e ea,nel. which however escaped by ,nea„s of a lent and a beadsleail will,
which he was laden ; ihe latter received the spring of the tiger, an,I hreakin.
with Its (o,.ce, let the brin.lh.d hero down with no .s„,all e,npl,asis to the
oppos,te s,le of the roa,l. He was not however long in regaining his feel and
w i t h the air ol a detected villain, applied them with as little delay to éllecl
his escape. ''
I ' h c Plate annexed to this Chapter exhibit, a corps on it, march. The face
of the country delineated, is perfectly correspond, .„t with a very great portion of
the districts situated at the foot of the large ranges of hills wliich border bolh
lo the east ami west of licngal and Bahar. The whole of those beautiful
countries are abiimhinlly watered wilh slreams of the parent elemenl which
w i t h the numerous top,-, of mango, and olher trees, combine to refresh the
M !