A TIGER SEIZING A BULLOCK IN A PASS. 53
lie wUl coiivcy iiway a man witli as much ease, and in ihc same manner as a cat
drags away a rat. I once witnessed an instance, wliicli gave me a very complete
idea of a tiger's proceedings, and of liis powers. I was travailing post in
my imlankm. through the llamghnr district, whicl, is mountainous and l.ttle
cultivated, being for the most part in a state of nature, and eve.y where
abounding in ¡ungles, when a hangij-wolhh, who conveyed two baskets of huen
and refresl.meuts, and who preceded tliey«<fa«fa» about an hundred and filty
yards set down his load, and seated himself on the side of the road to rest
awhile About two yards behind liim was a small ))ush, not uuich larger than
a ^ood sized currant tree, round which a small quantity of jungle grass was
growing to the height of about three feet. There was not another tw.g to be
seen for at least half a mile, on that side of the road. No sooner had the poor
fellow sealed himself, tlian a tiger sprang from behind, or rather lro,n w.thni
the bush, and, after giving the fetal blow with his paw, seized the man by ti.e
shoulder and dragged him olV, with the utmost ease, at a rou.ul pace, ,„to a
thick cover which liad formerly skirted the road, but which had, by order ot
government, been cut away to the distance of about a hundred yards, for the
safety of travellers.
Tlte most dangerous spots are the crossings of «»ifafe, where, if there be covcr,
tigers should ever be cxpectcd to lurk. The heat of the cfnuate inducmg uiuel,
thirst, and the hahits of the natives being in various respects much connected
witi. water, cause most travellers to stop in these situations, where the tiger with
very little trouble may select such objects for destruction as he may prefer. In
such places it sometimes happens that a man, or a bullock, &c. is earned oil
d a i l y yet it will appear extraordinary, that, rarely any means are adopted lor
removing the evil ; though it is well known that tigers are easily made to qmt
haunts • if proper measures be resorted to. But it being the business of every
body, nobody attends to it ; especially as the people of India arc predestuiarians
and conceive they cannot avoid their respective fates! Nevertheless, we hud
them having recourse to charms, and to many superstitious deviecs to avert
danger. A contradiction by no means singular, nor confined to any particular
part of the universe.
It must appear remarkable, thai tigers often quit the most advantageous haunts
witliout the least apparent cause; for as to checking or destroying thcni, even
where practicable, the natives never think of it, cxeept under European lull
„cuce ; and in many parts of the country it is impossible to do any t nng
effcctnal I am strongly inclined to think, that tigers are peculiarly subject
to some acute distemper, whicl, carries olV great numbers; or that they have
some very powerful enemy, with which we arc nnaequainted ; else, if we
admit that a tigress bears two cubs annually; nay, if we calculate that she
rears but one in three years, during a period of twelve years, we should hiid
the increase so prodigious, as to leave no chance against being over-run
with tliein in every direction! lu some districts, the rewards held lorth by
government and by individuals, have without doubt produced beneht; but
sucli ellbrts must be eonlined to particular spots, and never could alfect tho.se
immense jungles, stretching along the boundaries of Bengal for at least a
thousand miles on each side, and extending in many |)laces two or tlire«; hundred
miles in breadth. These grand depots, to which neither man, horse, nor
elephant can have access, and in wdiich deer, &c. abound, supplying the superior
beasts of prey with ample sustenance, could not fail, but for some powerful
curb, to cause such an augmentation as must, in time, annihilati- not only
every animal a tiger could destroy, but ultimately the tigers ihemsclvcs must
perish of hunger. As to the Dliok, or wild dog, it is never seen but in the
countries lying between south Bahar and the MahmUah frontier, towards
Nagpore. For a description of the Dkaie, which indeed is but little known in
India, the reader is referred to Plate XXI . of which that remarkable animal
is the subject.
I have before observed, that tigers are not always to be cheekcd by lire.
However popular the opinion may be, and although we may consider it as an
axiom, that a tiger may generally he driven away by noise, and especially hy
lire, yet so many instances are perpetually occurring, where neither the one
uor the other has bad the desired elVect. that we may perhaps not he very
wrong in juilging. that, though a tiger, when in a state of satiety, may be easily
alarmed, he is not easily repelled, by such means, when seriously in want of a
meal ! Nor on such occasions do we find that numbers operate as a defence.
In the year 1792. a merchant, who was proceeding by the new road to Calcutta,
with a large string of valuable horses for sale, was taken oil' his steed, as he was
going through the Kalaunsandy pass, at mid day ; though in the midst of a
numerous retinue of servants, and in spite of the noise necessarily attendant
on a large cavalcade. The tiger leaped down from a knoh at the road's side,
covered with small bushes and grass, about ten feet high, and dragged the unfortunate
merchant to the opposite side ; where, however, In- was intimidated
by the shouts of the horsemen, who pursued him as closely as they could get
their horses to approach. The corpse was on the same day brought to our
station at Hnzarij-bhcnig, where it was interred.
When travellers lind themselves benighted, and in camps, where either from
the situation being suspected as abounding with tigers, or from being pitched
in underwood jungles, it is usual to keep a good fire during the night. 1 doubt
not hut such a measure, added to other precautions, proves occasionally serviceable
; but knowing as I do, that it has frequently happened during a succession
of many nights, that the persons conveying the rfajsfe, or posts, have been
carried aw.ay in spite of the mosauh, or tlamheaus, and of the continual beating
of the tom-Ums, or drums, by which they are ever accompanied at night, my
opinion has long since been made up very completely on the subject; and some
strange alteration must take place in the conduct of tigers in general, before I
can bring myself to believe, that one half-famished, can be deterred by any
means from making an attack. That tigers are often very capricious I will
admit, and indeed that, iu some instances, their conduct appears unaccountable ;
^am