P L A T E X V I I I .
A TIGER SPRINGING ON AN ELEPHANT.
I t lias liappenod more llian once, tlial a t iger lias sncceecletl in Iiis a l l enipt to
spr ing u|)on an cU-pluuU; aL leasl, suiTicicnlly to hold fas t lor some time. Onc e
iiuieeil a lii;<?r iibLaiiu-d siicli ccniiplelc possession of a pad, thai the niohout, ve ry
judi c ious ly, declined so clpsc an ac((nainlancc wilh liis royal ne i ghbour , ihrowi t ig
iiimsclf front liis seat, at the r i sque of liis neck. Fo r had he not been, in a
g r e a t measure, saved liy the ([iianLily of g r a s s on which he fell, the r apidi ty of
ihe elephant ' s motion, added lo the genera l ha rdnes s of tiie g r ound, would have,
pr obably, caused considei-ablc injury. T h e accident happened lo a s ingle
elcpiianl g o ing ouL for fodder , and occasioned such a surpr i se and cons terna l ion
as urged the clei ihanl ' s nlmos t spe ed. Of coui-se, under such ci rcums tunces , she
\ \ a s indilleronL as to 1km- course, and fol lowed ihaL whi ch happened lo lead her
lo the river, into which slie plung ed, and wa s ([uickly out of her depth. T h e
l iger soon (juiUed his post ; whi ch, no doubl , wa s e qua l ly unpl e a s ant lo himself
as it wa s to ihe ele))hanl ; a l leasl, il cannot be suppos ed thai he fel l
himself tpiile at his ease.
Thi s Plate is par t icular ly inlcnded lo rcpre.senl an incident whi ch, about
Iwenly-five year s ago, took place, and filled the minds of the nume rous spectators
Avilli the inosl painful apprehens ion ! An ollicer, equa l ly r ema rkabl e for
liis vigour and cour a g e in I lie chase as he is for many e.Kcellent qual i t ies , collected
a [larty lo proceed down the river from JicThampore, more for shoot ing and
deer -hunl ing than for any other purpos e . Amo n g those who a c compani ed liim
was a voiuig genl loman, since killed in ,giillantly <lefending a smal l fort in the
As s am count ry, who wa s so shor l , for his age, that ihe c ommanding oiTicer of
ihe station had intenl icled his be ing al lowed lo perforni any respons ible dut i e s ;
such as taking cha rge of a gua rd, &c . until he mi ght be e([ual liiereto. J u s t as
dinner wa s over, intelligence wa s brought thai a liger had seized a bullock
g r a z ing near lo a jung l e hard by, inlo whi ch lie had ret reated wi th his prey.
All we r e a l e r t ; the elcphanl s we r e immei l iatcly accout red ; and the p a r l y soon
mount ed. T h e youth above mcnl ioned wa s ext r eme ly eager lo p a r t a k e of the
spor t , and implored our Ininler to take him up behind on the s ame elephant
>vith himself. T o this, however , a refusal was given ; the g ent l eman s t rongly
remons t r a t ing, and s e eming lo feel some pa r t i cul a r impul se, whi ch actuated him
forcibly, lo di sobl ige his y o u n g f r iend, r a ther than risk any accident befal l ing
him, T ime wa s not lo be lost in words , and the hunter s depa r t ed for ihe scene
of action, leaving the diminut ive ens ign not a little di splea sed, and mort ified a t
the di s a p p o intment ; and espec i a l ly a l the suppos ed incapabi l i ty a t t a ched lo his
want o f ye a r s .
I ' h e l iger had sat iated himself, and l ay lurking iu ihe g r a s s , whi ch wa s a s
hi gh a s ihc ba cks of the elephant s , and very thick, not far f rom the rema ins
of the bul lock. He wa s e x t r eme ly cunning, an<l couched so close a s lo render
i l , for a long time, doubt ful wl i c lhc r he wa s in the j a n g l e or not. T h e
s ymp t oms di s j i layed by the elephant s , on a p p r o a ching the pl a c e whe r e he lay
concealed, induced the p a r l y to per severe in their cflbrts to rouse hirn. T h e
g ent l eman in question pa r t i cul a r ly ur g e d his mohonl to make his clephanl be a t
the spot whe r e the scent wa s s t r o n g e s t ; which be ing done, in spi te of the
t r emendous tones of the agi t ated anima l , the liger, finding himsel f compe l l ed
either to res i s t or to submi t lo be ing t rodden upon, s ] ) rang up on the elcpl iant ' s
qua r t e r , and .so far suc ceeded a s to fix his c l aws in the pad : his hind l e g s we r e
s omewha t spr e ad, and their c l aws we r e fixed inlo the l leshy membr ane s of the
elephant ' s thigh. Ac l u a l e d by the exc e s s of fear, occas ioned b y so sudden and
so pa inful an a t t a ck, the elephant da shed l i i rough the cover at a surpr i s ing ra le ;
the t iger holding f a s t by its fore paws , and suppor t ed by its binder ones , a s
descr ibed in the P l a t e ; unabl e , liowcver, in cons equenc e of the ra])id and
i r regul a r mot ions of ihe elephant , ci ther lo rai se himsel f any higher , or lo c[uit
the hold he had so iirmly taken with his claws .
T h e g enl l cman, who had much ado to ke ep his seat , wa s pre c luded firing a l
hi s g r im companion, as well from his unprecedented s i tuat ion, as fj'otn the g r e a t
dang e r of wounding some of the nume rous fol lower s , who we r e eve r t ing the
utmos t speed of their respect ive elephant s , lo come n]) to his a.ssislance. T h e
constant des i re felt by the elcj ihanl to g e l rid of liis unwclcijine j'ider, wliich
produc ed a wa v ing and i r regular pa c e , g a v e the oj ipor tuni ty, for those who
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