.NES WITH i r THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROE CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID ^m:( SCENES WITH THE HUNTER AND THE TRAPPER IN MANY LANDS. STORIES OF ADVENTURES WITH WILD ANIMALS. IN PURSUIT LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK. /i* A i SCENES WITH THE HUNTER AND THE TRAPPER IN MANY LANDS; OR, STORIES OF ADVENTURES WITH WILD ANIMALS. BY W. H. DAVENPORT ADAMS. " What pleasure, sir, find we in life to lock it From action and adventure?" SHAKESPEARE. LONDON: T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW; EDINBURGH; AND NEW YOJJK. Skai AS- ace. |O long as the boys of Great Britain retain anything of the old traditional spirit, so long will they take \a pleasure in the perusal of narratives of " action d adventure." And it is well that they should learn to admire though not with an exaggerated admiration the coolness of nerve, the presence of mind, the steady resolution, the fearlessness of danger, which enable men to accomplish deeds of gallantry, whether " by flood or field." The qualities which distinguish the success- ful hunter, are those which win renown for the successful warrior. Both must have a keen eye, a firm and ready hand, a healthy frame ; and both must have the capability of enduring hardship, the patience to bide their time, ade- quate fertility of resource, and the mental calmness which no sudden peril disturbs. I do not say these are the highest qualities of humanity, but certainly they are foremost in the second rank ; and the ancient Greeks regarded them as necessary to their ideal of the perfect man. The hunter is sometimes represented as a bloodthirsty savage, going to and fro in search of what he may devour. No doubt the love of sport may be carried to an excess; but in general the pursuit of beasts of prey is a benefit to society ; while it Vlll PREFACE. unquestionably demands, on the part of those engaged in it, the exercise of no ordinary powers of mind and body. It seems to me, therefore, that a book recording some of the most stirring achievements of men in their prolonged contest with wild animals may be not only interesting but useful that it will not only amuse but teach. It is some- thing gained when a boy learns to prize and imitate the manly virtues ; and such stories as are set forth in the fol- lowing pages will help the young reader to this valuable lesson. They are all true stories, and I have carefully re- frained from embroidering them with sensational details. Collected from a variety of sources, they are necessarily diversified in tone and character; but not one of them is unwholesome reading. For the sake of securing a certain degree of homogeneity, I have strung them together on a simple thread of narration, suggested by a boyish experience of my own. Further, they are associated with the chief facts in the natural history of the animals to which they relate ; so that, to some extent, my little book may be ex- pected to quicken its reader's interest in zoological studies. But, of course, it is intended to solicit the patronage of the "juvenile public" primarily and chiefly as a record of Adventures with Wild Animals. I may add that it has been prepared as a companion to " The Forest, the Jungle, and the Prairie." Each volume is complete in itself \ yet the two are framed on a common plan, and the same interlocutors are introduced in both. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. Village of Firbank Dr. Birch's Academy Firbank Glen The Yorkshire moors Dr. Birch's " young gentlemen " "Dux "Seymour Fisher The " Fat Boy "A little company The cave in the glen Half-holi- days Readings A new pastime Stories about wild animals. . ..13-31 CHAPTER II. ABOUT THE TIGER. The Tiger described His muscular force His tenacity of life Blake on the Tiger Man and the Tiger Man-eaters Dimensions of a Tiger Quotation from Shelley The Tiger and the shark A strange incident The man-eater Adventures of Mansfield and Burton A Tiger-hunt Pursuit of a man-eater Native Superstitions Tiger-hunting in Nepaul The Prince of Wales Sport in India The Royal Tiger of Ben- gal Tigress and cubs Loss of human life The Toy-tiger A shooting platform A wonderful escape Seymour indulges his poetical faculty : "Look up, brave heart!" A tragical Tiger story Why the Tiger is chosen in the East as a symbol of royal power How he is caught in Oudh A Tiger-trap Anecdotes of duty done Quotation from Sir F. H. Doyle "The Private of the Buffs" Another story Twenty-four hours of adventure A new method of Tiger-hunting A moral re- flection Quotation from Goethe A famous Tiger-hunter A story from the East Praise for Fisher A day in the jungle Mansfield, CONTENTS. Burton, and Dr. M'PIiee An inexhaustible volume Panthers In the North American forest Another adventure A scene in Florida Old jokes 22-132 CHAPTER III. THE ELEPHANT : HIS HISTORY AND HABITS. Natural history of the Elephant His tusks His teeth His trunk The uses he makes of it His habits Other animals afraid of him Wild Elephants of Ceylon Their favourite food Their longevity Ele- phants in England A present to James I. All about ivory Wild- beast shows An Elephant-fight in Ava Entrapping Elephants The corrals of Ceylon Decoy Elephants Elephant's flesh Quotation from Mr. Petherick Elephant-hunting in Africa Characteristics of the Elephant Anecdotes Tit for tat An anecdote told by the great Duke of Wellington Kogue Elephants A herd and its leader An affecting scene The difference between " timorous " and "cowardly" How to read 133-176 CHAPTER IV. THE ELEPHANT : CONTINUED. Elephants employed in war Kublai Khan and the Elephants Quotation from Marco Polo An African nghal Quotation from Leo Africanus On old books The mastodon Traditions respecting it The mam- moth Discovery of fossil remains On the Zambesi Hamstringing the Elephant A wonderful escape Seymour's story An encounter with Elephants Quotation from Captain Harris Are sportsmen cruel? An anecdote of Gordon Cumming Quotation from Sir Emer- son Tennent The Elephant naturally of a mild disposition Sir Emerson Tennent and his tame Elephants Chutnee, the Elephant of Exeter 'Change Training and performance of Elephants Quotation from JElian Quotation from Captain Draysou The battle of the Berea The Dutch Boer's story A discussion on deer-stalking Quotation from Professor Wilson More about Elephants Life or death Quotation from the Old Shekarry Who is the true hero? Quotations from Mrs. Norton and Cowper A midnight scene by an African lake Quotation from C. J. Andersson 177-230 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER V. THE WOLF : HIS HISTORY AND HABITS. Natural history of the Wolf The She- Wolf and her cubs Superstitions respecting the Wolf His extended range of habitat King Edgar's law Wolves in England and Scotland The brothers of Falkirk Siberian Wolves Quotation from Mr. Atkinson A tame Wolf Wolves and pigs A tragical event A painful anecdote The story of Erik Scandinavian superstitions The Lapps and the Wolf Hunting the enemy A pig for a bait The hunters baffled A regular failure Caught in a Wolf-pit Master and man The varg-gard A Wolf's suicide A life and death ride A short discussion Romulus and Remus The Wolf-cubs and their mate Quotations from Major- General Sleeman In the Lithuanian forests A prayer against the Wolf Characteristics of the animal The Black Wolf of the Pyrenees Quotation from Miss Blgby An adventure with Wolves Quotation from Mr. Whitehead A night of peril An American adventurer The burning prairie A race for life The hardy pioneers Quotation from Charles Mackay The Prairie Wolf described The Cayeute His habits In Brittany The Wolf and the hound A critical position Wolf and porker A faithful Wolf The dog of Ulysses Another anecdote Carrying off a child Attack on a caravan On the battle- field No more talk about wild animals Farewell 231-317 SCENES WITH THE HUNTER AND THE TRAPPER IN MANY LANDS. VILLAGE OF FIRBANK FIRBANK GLEN THE YORKSHIRE MOORS DR. BIRCH'S PUPILS A LITTLE COMPANY THE CAVE IN THE GLEN HALF-HOLIDAYS, AND HOW THEY WERE SPENT. | IEBANK is the name of an establishment for young gentlemen, which Dr. Birch has conducted with equal profit and renown for the third part of a century. It is situated in one of the most romantic parts of Yorkshire, near the little village of Firbank ; which, because a wealthy landed proprietor lives in the neighbourhood, has the good fortune to be connected with the thriving market-town of Elmwood by a branch line of railway more, be it said, to the advantage of the inhabitants of Firbank than to the gain of the Company which works the line. Though in this way possessing all the conveniences of ready access to a large centre of population, Firbank is as 14 FIRBANK GLEN. secluded a place as you could wish to find in a summer's day ramble. It is planted on the very edge of the Yorkshire moors, rising from them with a tolerable ascent, and look- ing down upon a well- wooded vale, through which a copious "beck" tumbles along in many a whirl and eddy. There is no village within half-a-dozen miles of it ; and Elmwood is twenty-five miles distant. News from the outer world reach it but slowly ; and its little community remains quite apathetic under political conditions which raise the nation generally to a pitch of uncontrollable excitement. A slight stir is visible about noon, when the daily post arrives ; other- wise, the only sensations of the place are derived from the "doings" at the Hall, the escapades and frolics of Dr. Birch's pupils, and the movements of an occasional guest at the village inn, attracted to this remote and tranquil nook by the picturesqueness of its scenery, or the sport for rod and line afforded by the neighbouring streams. And certainly one might do worse than spend a day in Firbank Glen, that strange wooded ravine which cuts into the moorland, like an oasis in the Sahara, or a bit of Eden in this work-day world. The sides are richly clothed with brushwood and stunted oaks, which, near the summit, give way to tall green firs. In the shadowy depth flows the brawling stream, taking a restless and wandering course, now foaming against projecting promontories, now whirling round gnarled tree-roots, now leaping over a ledge of rock. Here, when you have wandered about half a mile from the school, you find yourself in the completest solitude; and poetically-minded pupils have been prone to resort to a small cave which, partly by nature and partly by industrious hands, has been dug into the grassy bank. It is pleasant enough to sit in this ferny hollow and listen to the waters as they gurgle by, to the birds as they sing fearlessly and A BEAUTIFUL PROSPECT. 15 merrily among the green tree-tops. And it is pleasanter still to gather a posy of the wood flowers that blossom so abun- dantly in the silent shades to delight in " the sweet azure of bluebells, and recognize in pearl-white blossoms spangling the grass an humble type of some starlit spot in space." Ascending the glen northwards, you come to the perennial basin from which the stream derives its source ; and climb- ing the rugged acclivities of the hollow, you emerge upon the moorland edge, lying all fresh and green under the smile of a summer sky. Even in the hottest noon, how fresh a breeze pours over the wide open tract ! And how fine a sense of fragrance rises from the heathery sward as the way- farer presses it with impatient foot ! Away to the south- ward stands the clump of wood which marks the site of Firbank Hall, with the gray tower of the village church rising just beyond them ; farther to the south-west, a keen eye can distinguish the haze that floats upward from the chimneys of Elmwood. To the east stretches the purple moorland, extending to the brink of the rocky cliffs which withstand, unmoved, the storms of the German Ocean. And what excursions the Yorkshire moorland in this dis- trict opened up to the adventurous pedestrians of Dr. Birch's establishment ! Gymnastics at that time had not crept into the undeserved favour and unwholesome notoriety they have acquired elsewhere. Instead of running " one hundred yard races," like professionals, or leaping over bars and hurdles, Dr. Birch's young gentlemen adhered to the old English games of cricket, and football, and prisoner's base, or hare and hounds ; or they started for a vigorous perambulation of the country in search of the picturesque. They would mount to the highest point of the moor, from which they could look across to Whitby, with the gleaming sea beyond it. Or they struck to the westward, and visited Danby Beacon, famous 16 ABOUT YORKSHIRE. for the wide landscape which it commands ; and thence they proceeded to the remains of an early British village : a series of pits, divided by a stream into two parts, with tall stones and tumuli all about memorials of a far-off age, when Britain was a lonely island in a dull gray sea. Then there was Dauby Castle, a noble, massive building, even in its decay, with rowan and ash trees springing from the broken walls, and azure harebells smiling on the ledges. The boys were never weary of exploring its recesses; and their imagination loved to people the battlements with archers and men-at-arms on their guard against the wild freebooters who so often came down from the Scottish border. It is said that a queen of England once held high state in the castle namely, Catherine Parr, who, after the death of Henry VIII., married Lord Latimer, the then owner of Danby. Dr. Birch's boys w r ere mostly of Yorkshire birth , and very proud were they of their glorious county, " A kingdom that doth seem, a province at the least, To them that think themselves no simple shires to be." Their love was wisely encouraged by Dr. Birch himself, who was constantly stimulating them to a thorough knowledge of its characteristics by offering prizes for sketches of York- shire scenery and essays on Yorkshire history and Yorkshire worthies. So they knew all about its great rivers the Tees, the Swale, the Ouse, the Wharfe, the Don ; about its wolds and vales, its fells and gills, its purple moors and dark-green woods; its great cities York, with its stately minster, busy Leeds, thriving Halifax, sunny Doncaster; its castles as those of Middleham, Eichmond, Pickering, Barnard, Bolton, Pontefract ; its beautiful churches and its famous abbeys Whitby, Kirkham, Fountains, Rievaux, (533) DR. BIRCH'S "YOUNG GENTLEMEN." 17 Bolton. They had explored, moreover, much of its romantic sea-coast, with its long stretches of lofty rugged cliff, its bold promontories, its sweeps of firm, smooth sand, and the bays of Filey, Robin Hood, Whitby, and Bunswick. But we must turn our attention to Dr. Birch's school. We do not propose to indulge in any sketches of school- life, or to describe any incidents in the career of its pupils, thinking that both subjects, of late, have been somewhat overdone. But we must introduce the reader to a few of the " young gentlemen," in order to explain how this book came to be written. The captain, or dux^ not very long ago, was one Francis Seymour, now an officer in one of Her Majesty's Indian regiments, then a lad of seventeen ; good-tempered, frank, cheery, with an athletic frame, a prepossessing countenance, and considerable mental powers. He was popularly known as " the poet," from his partiality to verse-making and his love of poetry. He was also distinguished as a story-teller, and knew every legend and tradition of the country for miles around. His lieutenant and fidus Achates was Frederick Fisher ; inferior, perhaps, to Seymour in natural powers, but of a more laborious and patient disposition. He was a great reader : and it was believed by the little boys that he had read almost every book under the sun. Having a tenacious memory, he had accumulated a really considerable stock of information, and his schoolfellows referred to him as others refer to a lexicon or a cyclopaedia. He was very fond oi long walks; in the course of which he collected ferns and wild plants, insects and birds' eggs, and noted the habits of animals with wonderful accuracy of observation. Always hanging about these two leaders were four or five (533) 2 18 THE " FAT BOY." of the steadier lads of the school, being kept together by a certain similarity of tastes, and by the fact that they all lived in the county-town, where they constantly mixed together in society. There was Sholto Douglas, a lively youth, much given to fun and out-of-door sports, but by no means deficient in ability. There was Edward Yernon, a thoughtful boy, with a strong aptitude for study and a natural quickness of obser- vation, who wanted only more steadiness of purpose to be- come a first-rate scholar. There was Alfred Mount joy, a boy in most respects like the average school-boy, but very affectionate, and of a fine open disposition. We must not omit Walter Beauchamp, a modest, gentle- manly lad, who scarcely did himself justice, owing to his retiring habits. Those who knew him well, however, knew that he had that in him which would hereafter acquire dis- tinction. Everybody liked him, for he was a thorough gentleman; and boys are excellent judges of the " real thing." Last, but not least, in the little company, was Charley Lambert, popularly known as the Fat Boy, from his sup- posed resemblance to a certain conspicuous character in " Pickwick." He was fat, certainly, with a broad, good- humoured face, like a full moon ; short, stumpy legs, and an aldermanic rotundity of stomach. Of course, he was left behind when Seymour and his companions took their long pedestrian excursions ; Lambert could not conveniently climb hills, or descend rugged banks, or leap ditches and fences. His mode of progression was a steady, easy walk, and he preferred as level a road as he could find. Douglas declared that he did not walk, but waddle, an aspersion which Lam- bert always resented with becoming indignation. He took THE CAVE IN THE GLEN. 19 refuge from the jokes of his tormentors and, unfortunately, boys are very great tormentors in a quiet corner of the schoolroom, or in an angle of the playground, where he amused himself by reading, of which he was very fond, and strengthening his frame the while by banqueting on such dainty viands as he could procure in the village-shops of Firbank. Thoroughly good-humoured and gentle, he was a favourite even with those who teased him most ; and he could always rely on the kindly protection of Fisher and Seymour, whom he worshipped with all a schoolboy's devotion. Now it came about that, as the summer-time approached, a few years ago, Fisher, Seymour, and their companions fell into a habit of resorting, in the holiday afternoons, to the little cave in the glen of which I have already spoken. As Douglas said, " They could not be always walking and leap- ing and running;" and Lambert declared that the weather was too warm for unnecessary exertion. I think the habit was encouraged by Fisher and Seymour, because it gave them an opportunity of raising the intellectual standard of their companions, by bringing them acquainted with the best books of the best writers. They took it in turns to read aloud, answering freely any questions which were put to them, and taking care that their selections were judiciously made, and of such a character as to keep alive the attention of their auditors. In this way they went through Byron's " Childe Harold," and a good deal of Words- worth, some of Shakespeare's finest plays, Froissart's Chron- icles, Fronde's " History of England," and similar works of genius. And very pleasant the boys found it, sitting about the entrance to the little cave, with the birds singing above them, and the waters flowing beside them, and the sunshine glinting through the trees and bushes, while they listened to noble bursts of poetic fervour or to the stirring narratives 20 " JOLLY " TALES. of the deeds of heroic men. The circle of listeners was frequently very large, for, as Douglas said, " the readings in the Cave of Wisdom were free gratis and for nothing;" but I think Seymour and Fisher enjoyed them most when none attended except their more immediate friends and fol- lowers, on whose sympathy they could fully rely. Seymour was wise enough to know, however, that boys can easily have too much even of a good thing, and he was " cudgelling his brains " to introduce some variety into their afternoon occupations which might prevent his companions from growing weary, when one day Lambert suddenly broke out with " Oh ! I say, weren't those jolly stories you fellows told in the rail way- carriage ! " "The railway-carriage!" said Vernon; "what do you mean?" "To think you don't remember!" exclaimed Lambert. " What ! have you forgotten our precious adventure in the snow, when we came back this half?" " Of course not ; I arn not likely to forget it. And now I know what you mean these tales about tiger-hunts and lion-hunts " " And bears, and all the rest of them," said Lambert ; " well, weren't they jolly !" " Capital ! " remarked Mountjoy ; " but you can read them for yourself, if you want to do so, in the book which Dr. Birch got printed and published."* " As if I didn't know that, when my copy of it has been thumbed and fingered till the leaves will hardly hold to- gether ! But what I say is, they were stunning stories, and I wish there were more of them ! " * See "The Forest, the Jungle, and the Prairie," published by Messrs. Nelson and Sons. READINGS IN THE CAVE. 21 " An idea has struck me ! " exclaimed Seymour ; " why should we not have more of them ? I have not exhausted all my stock, and I am sure that Fisher has no end of jolly tales collected in that precious manuscript volume of his ! " " I am quite ready to do my part," answered Fisher ; " and as we have some excellent books of travel in the school library, we might each of us prepare a contribution or two towards the general fund of amusement and instruction ; for if we intersperse our stories with bits of information respect- ing the habits of the animals we are talking about, we shall not only be entertained but instructed." " Sagely spoken ! " said Douglas. " And as I agree in toto with the honourable member who has just sat down, and with the honourable member who preceded him, I beg to move that our ' Eeadings in the Cave ; be suspended until further notice, in consequence of the production of a series of entertainments by Messrs. Seymour, Fisher, Yernon, and a talented company, to be entitled what? " " ' Scenes with the Hunter and the Trapper/ " said Sey- mour, laughingly. " Excellent ! Brilliant ! Delightful ! " resumed Douglas. " A series of entertainments, to be entitled ' Scenes with the Hunter and the Trapper in Many Lands/ warranted to make the public's blood cr-r-r-e-eep, and the public's hair to stand on end ! n After a little further discussion, it was unanimously agreed that the following Saturday should witness the commence- ment of the series, and that the subject should be the Tiger. " An afternoon with a tiger ! " said Douglas, as the little party broke up ; " imagine rny looking forward to it with positive pleasure ! " II. Jib out the ^ijjer. THE TIGEE DESCRIBED TIGER-HUNTS THE BENGAL TIGER NARRA- TIVES OF ADVENTURE STORIES FROM THE JUNGLE ABOUT THE PANTHER. f JHE boys assembled at the cave on the following Saturday afternoon, according to agreement. Sey- k mour was appointed chairman, and proceeded to explain the purpose for which they had met. He then stated that the subject of conversation was the Tiger, and that he proposed to offer a few introductory remarks before calling upon their friend Fisher for a " hair- breadth escape " or a " thrilling adventure." The tiger, he said, as everybody knows, is a very splendid specimen of the Felidce, or Cat family ; though he was not the kind of cat which one would desire to treat as a domestic pet. There could be no doubt as to his handsome appear- ance ; his coat, of a bright orange-yellow, was richly varie- gated with stripes or bars of black ; and his eyes shone like balls of fire. He was famous for his swiftness of foot and fierceness of temper : men, when they wanted to characterize a cruel, vindictive disposition, spoke of it as "tigerish." Shakespearian readers would remember the force and fre- quency of the great poet's allusions to this crafty and feroci- ous lord of the jungle. Borneo, in his extremest agony, speaks of " the time and his intents " as TENACITY OF LIFE. 23 " More fierce and more inexorable far Than empty tigers or the roaring sea." Queen Elizabeth compares Bichard III. to this savage beast " The tiger now hath seized the gentle hind." And in King John, the Cardinal warns the King of France against the duplicity of the English monarch " France, thou mayst hold a serpent by the tongue, A chafSd lion by the mortal paw, A fasting tiger safer by the tooth." In size the tiger is generally inferior to the " chafed lion," but individual examples have been known to surpass the so-called King of Beasts, measuring as much as fifteen feet from the nose to the tip of the tail. He has a muscular, robust, well-proportioned body. Hence his nimbleness would surprise our friend Lambert; and when he is pursuing or pursued, he covers the ground with wonderful celerity. He has been ascertained to clear fifteen or twenty feet at a single leap. When hunting for prey in the lower Himalayan valleys, he bounds from crag to crag like the Alpine chamois ; he springs boldly across the most tremendous chasms ; though sometimes, indeed, he miscalcu- lates the distance or over-estimates his strength, and failing to reach the opposite side, is dashed to death in the abyss below ! Like all of his tribe, he possesses an extraordinary tenaci- ousness of life; and it is this strong vitality which makes tiger-hunting dangerous. Even if the hunter be sufficiently confident in his presence of mind and skill as a marksman to allow the tiger to approach within such a distance as to make sure of a shot between the eyes, the danger he incurs is still very great. A bullet in the head does not always check the raging animal in his charge. Instances are on 24 BLAKE ON THE TIGEK. record of tigers which, have pursued their furious career for some distance after receiving a mortal wound. A Madras sepoy was once measuring a tiger that had just fallen to the ground, and lay, to all appearance, dead. But the animal contrived, even in his death-agonies, to lift his paw and deal the unfortunate soldier a blow which fractured his skull. These prefatory remarks I may, perhaps, be allowed to conclude with the fine lines in which William Blake, a great poet and artist, has celebrated the wonderful organization of this splendid animal : " Tiger, tiger, burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Framed thy fearful symmetry? " In what distant deeps or skies Burned that fire within thine eyes? On what wings dared he aspire? What the hand dared seize the fire ? "And what shoulder, and what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart ? When thy heart began to beat, What dread hand formed thy dread feet ? " What the hammer, what the chain, Knit thy strength and forged thy brain ? What the anvil ? What dread grasp Dared thy deadly terrors clasp ? " When the stars threw down their spears, And watered heaven with their tears, Did He smile His work to see ? Did He who made the lamb make thee?" Seymour then " called upon " Frederick Fisher to favour " the audience " with an illustration of the carnivorous pro- pensities of the tiger. Fisher immediately began a narrative, for which, he said, he was indebted to an interesting book by an old Indian officer. ON THE MYSORE FRONTIER. 25 MAN AND THE TIGER. An Indian officer* was stationed for several years in a remote part of our Indian possessions, on the Mysore frontier, and near the great many-crested range of the Western Ghauts, whose rugged flanks are richly clothed with mighty forests wildernesses which the foot of man CHOOSING A VICTIM. has never trodden solitudes never disturbed by human voice. There the tigress loves to feed her young, and issuing with her savage partner from their lair, she scours the smaller jungles of the plain, and strikes terror into the * Major W. Campbell, ' The Old Forest Ranger.' 26 THE MAN-EATING TIGER. hearts of all its humbler inhabitants. Some idea of the havoc committed by these animals may be gathered from the fact that, according to official returns, in one district, three hundred men and five thousand head of cattle were destroyed during three years. While confined to the forest, the tiger is comparatively harmless. There, feeding principally on deer, he rarely encounters man, and when the solitary hunter does en- counter the l grim tyrant of the woods,' an instinctive fear of the human race bids him retreat. But in the open country he becomes dangerous. Hunger rouses his fellest passions, and he seeks his prey even under the herds- man's eyes. Still he shrinks from attacking man, unless incensed or urged to desperation. But let him once taste human blood, and the spell is for ever broken. His awe of man is loosened ; his nature seems changed ; he deserts the jungle, and haunts the very doors of his vic- tims. He lets the cattle pass unheeded, to carry off their driver ; and from that time forth the tiger becomes a Man- eater. A notorious old tigress, says our military authority, which I assisted in killing some years ago, used to lie in wait near the ford of a rivulet daily crossed by travellers, and after carrying off several letter-bearers she became so dreaded, that the road which passed her haunts was deserted. For years she had frequented the same covert ; repeated attempts had been made to destroy her ; she had been caught in nets and pitfalls, but always escaped ; and at last she became so cunning as to baffle the most experienced hunters of the district. In the course of a tour through the province, our officer, accompanied by a friend, encamped close to the scene of her depredations. Their shikarees, or beaters as we should call them always on the quest for A FIERY FURNACE. 27 information about tigers, heard of her, and most fortunately hit upon her trail next morning. It was traced right into a small but impenetrable clump of brushwood on the banks of a stream, and this was so effectually surrounded by the hunters, as to render the animal's escape impossible. The officer and his friend, on their elephant, arrived at the spot, and beat the thicket, inch by inch, wherever it was practi- cable ; wading through masses of overgrown creepers, and tearing down the trees which impeded his progress, without, however, discovering the tigress's retreat. Finding that she was not thus to be dislodged, the elephant was withdrawn, and showers of rockets and other combustibles were flung into the covert, while the Englishmen planted themselves on a tree which commanded a good view of the whole clump. It was soon a sheet of flame, and the heat became so intolerable, that they were constrained to abandon their post. One of the daring hunters had already reached the ground ; the other was in the act of dropping from a branch, when the tigress leapt from the fiery furnace, lashing her sides with her tail, and howling furiously. They discharged their rifles almost simultaneously, and broke her leg by a rifle-ball. Fortunately she did not charge, for they were both in her power. The smoke seemed to stupify her, and creeping into a date-bush, there she lay concealed, and re- ceived several shots without attempting the least resistance. This tigress showed, both in appearance and disposition, all the marks of a true man-eater. Her skull bore the traces of great age ; her body in size did not exceed that of a panther ; and her lean gaunt figure seemed diseased by the human flesh on which she fed. Another instance is recorded by the same writer of a man-eater obstinately confining himself to a small patch of jungle until it was burnt down around him. ' We could see 28 THE TIGER'S GREAT STRENGTH. him, completely exposed, sitting on his haunches encircled by fire; we could hear his hoarse roar rising above the crepitation of the flames ; his glaring eyeballs rolled from side to side, watching the rockets which fell thickly round him ; the intense glare of the light seemed to dilate and expand his form, and kindle his brilliant colours into a wonderful brightness. At last the heat became intolerable ; the flames scorched him. Uttering a roar that startled even the most veteran sportsman, he sprang with one tremendous bound over the blazing barrier, and dropped dead the instant he alighted. In both these cases rockets were profusely em- ployed, though without effect ; but, in general, tigers may be forced from the strongest coverts by the use of fireworks.' The muscular strength of this formidable animal seems out of all proportion to his size. A bullock, says Major Campbell, was killed by a tiger near his encampment, on the banks of the Tumboodra, in a field fenced round by a hedge of prickly pear about six feet high. On going to the spot, he found the carcass of the bullock, partly devoured, on the outside of the hedge ; not a branch was ruffled, and the only clue to account for its removal were the deeply impressed footprints of a large tiger, where he must have oveiieapt the barrier with his prey in his jaws. The im- possibility of the bullock having been conveyed thither in any other way, was the only proof that an animal weighing not more than 600 pounds could have exercised such tre- mendous strength. This is due to his anatomical structure. The mechanism of his fore leg is very beautiful ; its girth is upwards of two feet, and it is a mass of elastic muscle and sinew. The jaw, the neck, the shoulders, convey the same idea of surpassing strength combined with wonderful agility. The following are given as the dimensions of an average- sized tiger : CONFUSED NOMENCLATURE. 29 Ft. In. Length from point of nose to point of tail 9 5 Length of tail 2 10 Height, from heel to shoulder 3 9. Extreme length, from shoulder to point of toe 3 11 There is some confusion in the use of the word ' tiger.' In many parts of India, and in Ceylon, leopards and THE TIGER IN THE HIMALAYAS. panthers are called tree-tigers; and English sportsmen are sometimes summoned by the natives to ' kill a tiger/ only to find that the animal in question is one of the less formidable felidce. Mr. Acland relates that a party of officers once went out from Cuttack to shoot. Their men were beating the 30 A PRACTICAL JOKE. jungle, when suddenly all the wild cry ceased, and a man came gliding to the spot where all the ' sahibs' were assembled, to tell them that a tiger was lying asleep in his den close at hand. A consultation was instantly held ; most of the party expressed a desire to return to Cuttack, but Captain Blake let us call him insisted on having a shot at the animal. Accordingly, he advanced very quickly until he came to the place, where he saw not a tiger, but a large leopard, lying quite still, with his head resting on his fore paws. He went up close and fired, but the animal made no movement. This astonished him ; and on examination he found that the sup- posed ' man-eater ; was already dead. One of his companions had bribed some Indians to place a dead leopard there, and then speak of it as a ' tiger asleep. ; It may be imagined that Captain Blake did not see the joke ! [" Do tigers climb, like other felidae?" asked Beauchamp. " No," replied Fisher ; " perhaps because the prey on which they feed is not of an arboreal habit. They possess the power, I fancy, but have no call to exercise it." " It may be on account of their great weight," rejoined Seymour. " What an exertion of muscular force would be needed to drag so heavy a bulk up an Indian tree ! By- the-by, I think I remember a powerful passage in Shelley, which may here come in as an illustration, though I am not sure that I can give it correctly. A ship is sinking ; two tigers, confined between-decks, have burst their bonds, and plunged into the wide world of waters, where a sea-snake has grappled with one of them in deadly contest. Now, says the poet"* and here Seymour, in his excitement, leaped * The reader will be disposed to cavil, perhaps, because we have repre- sented a lad of seventeen as quoting Shelley. But many lads of seventeen do read and appreciate Shelley. Nor is there any reason why they should not read so much of his works as is contained in Moxon's edition of the THE TIGER AND THE SHARK. 31 to his feet, and recited the impassioned lines with emphatic force : " ' The foam and the smoke of the battle Stain the clear air with sunbows ; the jar and the rattle. Of solid bones crushed by the infinite stress Of the snake's adamantine voluminousness ; And the hum of the hot blood that spouts and rains Where the gripe of the tiger has wounded the veins, Swollen with rage, strength, and effort ; the whirl and the splash As of some hideous engine whose brazen teeth smash The thin winds and soft waves into thunder ! the screams And hissings crawl fast o'er the smooth ocean-streams, Each sound like a centipede. Near this commotion, A blue shark is hanging within the blue ocean, The fin-winged tomb of the victor. The other Is winning his way from the fate of his brother, To his own, with the speed of despair. Lo ! a boat Advances ; twelve rowers with the impulse of thought Urge on the keen keel ; the brine foams. At the stern Three marksmen stand levelling. Hot bullets burn In the breast of the tiger, which yet bears him on To his refuge and ruin.' There's a glorious picture, boys, which only a painter of great genius could realize ! The foaming and churning waters strewn with wreck the awful struggle between the tiger and the sea-snake the expectant shark the swift- cutting keel and the levelled muskets of the marksmen and that other tiger, who, with three balls in his breast, still rushes on to refuge and ruin what a scene might be made up of these elements, and if well-painted, how it would thrill the gazer ! " " Bravo, Seymour," shouted the lads, as he threw himself ' Minor Poems.' There is much in the poet's writings to deplore ; but much more to admire, and 'numbers of passages might be adduced,' as Robertson remarks (' Lectures and Addresses,' p. 63), ' steeped in a flood of earnest de- sire to see this earth regenerated, and purified, and the spirit of man mingling with the infinite Spirit of Good.' A boy with a healthy mind and generous heart will readily discern where Shelley errs. 32 IN THE MAHRATTA COUNTRY. back in his seat, apparently surprised at his own enthusiasm. Fisher again resumed his reading : An incident which occurred in the Mahratta country is curious as showing how a wounded tiger will single out the man who fires at him. A tiger was found in a small patch of jungle, near camp, by a party of shikarees who were out hunting the boar. They surrounded the place, and fired away with their matchlocks till sunset, without doing much harm. The tiger, slightly wounded, was lying in the middle of the thicket, and there he remained, responding to each shot by a roar that deterred every one from approaching near enough to take deadly aim. Well, when they could no longer see the muzzles of their long barrels, they determined to watch round the cover all night, and in the morning, if the tiger was not yet dead, to make him devour a few more bullets. It was growing very dark, and somewhat cold. One of the shikarees determined to cheer himself with a whiff, but when the chillum had just begun to glow brightly, a rush was heard among the bushes, a roar rang in their affrighted ears, and the tiger leapt in upon them. The un- fortunate smoker was smashed by a blow which fell, dull, heavy, and crushing, as the stroke of a sledge hammer, and away sped the tiger far into the deep darkness of the night. It would seem that the tiger mistook the incandescent chillum for the flash of a matchlock, and rushed to revenge himself on his adversary. ["And now, boys, I think I have played out my part. Seymour, I call upon you for the next story." " Yes, Seymour, no excuses ; fire away, old fellow," were the shouts which endorsed Fisher's suggestion, and Seymour good-naturedly hastened to comply.] ANOTHER TIGER-STORY. 33 THE MAN-EATER. Transport yourselves in imagination to the banks of the great river Cauvery, which, beneath a hot Indian sun, flows darkly and sluggishly through the rank jungles of Mysore. There, once upon a time, you might have seen an old dismantled mud-fort, whose crumbling walls were washed by turbid waters. Amongst the shallows, with outstretched necks and vigilant eyes, waded the snow-white egret and the stately crane. On the oozy sand-banks basked the alligator's scaly length, and above the reeds hovered the Brahminey kite, uttering its querulous note, as the setting sun's slanting beams gilded its quivering wings. Herds of lazy buffaloes trooped homeward from the pasture, a sun- burnt urchin, planted on the back of the most docile, shout- ing shrill objurgations to his charge, whose only reply was a hoarse and meditative grunt. The turtle-dove cooed among the mango-leaves, and the sharp cry of the wild pea- cock echoed through the copse. And under the shade of the drooping banyan-trees reclined the graceful figure of many a Hindu girl, listening well-pleased to the wild and plaintive song of her companions. Soft and pastoral the scene, as any which Arcady could have presented in the golden age, though so unlike in the attributes of form and colour. Soft and pastoral the scene, except, indeed, that ever and anon a loud startling cry would ring upon the breeze, and before it had utterly died away, find an answer in the opposite quarter. A strange and eery sound, such as man only utters at moments of urgent peril ; the shout of the Mysore woodsman, endeavour- ing with the spell of the human voice to scare the tiger from his path. On such an evening, as the sun was sinking in a cloud (533) 3 34 THE BRAHMIN'S ABLUTIONS. of gold and purple, Rung Row, the priest of a certain Mysore village, pursued his path along the river-bank in search of a convenient spot for his evening ablutions. Musing, let us suppose, on high and holy themes, the Brahmin strode along, with eyes fixed upon the glowing heavens, and scarcely noticing the lowly salutations humbly offered by the Ryots whom he encountered. At a bend of the river, a few hundred yards from the village, its waters nestled in a dimpling bay, fringed with glossy aloe-bushes and bordered with soft and glittering sand. It was a favourite spot with the Brahmin, and had Naiads ever flourished on the Cauvery, thither I am sure would every Naiad have resorted. For so bright were the river-waves, so rich the encircling verdure, so bold the sweep of the over-arching boughs which almost hid ' The summer-heaven's delicious blue So wondrous wild, the whole might seem The scenery of a fairy dream ! ' SCOTT. Uttering a prayer at every step, the Brahmin waded into the river, and commenced the ceremony of ablution by pour- ing water from a small brass vessel over his shaven crown and well-oiled skin. Hark ! what sound was that ? The Brahmin's ears were closed by the cold water that poured over them, or the rustle in the bushes would assuredly have alarmed him. Unsuspicious of danger he did not raise his head, or he might have seen two bright-green orbs hungrily glaring at him through the branches of a neighbouring aloe-bush. Alas ! For him no more the prayer or the rite the mys- tery or the revel ! His hour was come, and the terrible man-eater of Shikarpoor had marked him for his prey. Stealthily she glided through the brush wood, mid draped SURPRISED BY A TIGER. 35 herself noiselessly along the sand, until the river-marge was reached ; then, with a roar and a rush she sprang upon her victim, crushed in his skull to the brain, and clenched her murderous teeth in his throat. A moment more, and with the dead body in her grasp, she was bounding away to her secret lair. Many a poor Kyot and woodsman had already fallen victims to this terrible beast, but their fate had created no concern ; they belonged to the vulgar herd, for whom the great ones of the earth have little care. But when a peasant boy, who had witnessed the closing scene of the tragedy, ran into the village, screaming Bagh! Bagh! and made known the dreadful fate of the Brahmin, the anxiety and the con- sternation were indescribable ; men went about in an agony of grief, and women tore their hair and beat their breasts. The officials and the priests, the women and the Ryots, were alike agreed that Rung Row's fate must be avenged, and the career of the man-eater summarily terminated. It happened that two English officers let us call them Mansfield and Burton had arrived a day or two before in a neighbouring village. Their fame as mighty hunters had preceded them, and it was generally believed that some supernatural power guided their death-dealing weapons, so that they never missed their aim. To these a deputation of Brahmins and armed peons, and noisy musicians, repaired in solemn state, and humbly implored their co-operation in an expedition against the terrible man-eater. Mansfield and Burton sportsmen to the backbone, and true Englishmen in their love of dangerous adventure and hazardous enter- prise willingly acceded, and having made some neces- sary preparations, proceeded towards the scene of the Brahmin's catastrophe. It was nearly sunset when they arrived, and an attempt to track the man-eater's trail 36 THE HOT PURSUIT. having proved unsuccessful, the Englishmen postponed the campaign until the next "morning. As soon as it \vas dawn, the Englishmen were roused by their attendants. They quickly mounted, and, preceded by an elephant and its mahout or driver, set out in quest of the tiger. After traversing some open country, they penetrated into a deep obscure valley, clothed with fresh verdure, and watered by a perennial stream, which in the fiercest sum- mer never ran dry. As it plunged into the bosom of the hills it grew narrower, and finally terminated in a romantic glen, not unlike those which are the glory and the pride of the Scottish Highlands. Here, one of their attendants Bhurmah, a noted Baghman or tiger-slayer discovered the fresh footprints of the animal they were in search of. Mansfield and Burton immediately mounted the elephant, accompanied by a trusty shikaree, named Ayapah ; the various attendants were ordered to take up the most favour- able positions for guarding every point of escape ; and, as a further precaution, a native horseman was posted on an ascent which overlooked the surrounding country, with in- structions to keep the tigress in sight if she broke away. Then, at the mot tfordre ["The what?" said the Fat Boy, sleepily. " The word of command," retorted Douglas, in an angry tone.] Then, at a signal from the mahout, (continued Seymour), the elephant advanced, crashing through the intertangled branches as a ship ploughs through the bounding waves. Yet, like the course of a ship when beaten back by contrary winds, the elephant's progress was slow and irregular ; he was impeded by masses of prickly shrubs and bushes, and climbing parasitical plants, so densely matted together that even his immense bulk could scarcely open up a path. But THE TIGRESS SIGHTED. 37 the Englishmen were as patient as they were ardent. Hour after hour passed away, and every corner, but one, of the wooded cover was examined. In this the brushwood was less luxuriant, but high spear-grass shot up to a considerable height. The elephant was urged forward. Suddenly a monkey, who had watched the whole scene with observant sagacity, was observed to spring from tree to tree, moping and mowing, grinning and chattering, and pointing to some object that stole through the long grass waving below him. 'Look, Sahib!' cried Ayapah, from the back of the liowdak. ' Push on the elephant ! ' shouted Mansfield, ' the beast is yonder, and trying to escape us.' Well enough did the lordly elephant know that his game was at hand, and flapping his ears, with glistening eyes and curled up trunk he strode forward at a rapid pace. 'There is the trail!' exclaimed Ayapah, pointing to fresh footprints on the side of the ravine. ' Shall I cross ? ' asked the mahout ; but before he could receive a reply a wild shout, caught up on every side, proclaimed that the tiger had been sighted, and away went the elephant through bush and brier, over the ravine, and towards the point from whence the shikar cry had first proceeded. The rockets now blazed all around, but the man-eater had been hunted before, and was not to be checked by these pyrotechnical displays. The scouts still pointed forward, and, before the elephant had forced a passage through the jungle, a shikaree, watching the plain, waved his turban and uttered the well- known whoop, which announced that she had c broken cover.' ' She has beaten us,' cried Mansfield ; ' the daughter of Sheitan has beaten us, and is off to the hills as fast as she can scour ! ' They had now reached the open plain where the horse- 38 A TEMPORARY DISAPPOINTMENT. man had been posted, and where the cowardly Hindu might now be seen apparently urging his horse in hot pursuit of the man-eater, but prudently determined that he would not overtake her. Not that he had much cause to apprehend such a result in the hilly country, the pace of the tiger out- stripping that of most native horses. As soon as the man- eater had disappeared over the brow of a hill, the sowar wheeled round his horse and made towards the English officers, brandishing his spear as if he were returning from a success- ful combat. ' Inshallah ! ' he cried, * she did not wait till my spear could reach her ; she fled like a dove before a hawk ! ' 'And well for you,' said Mansfield sarcastically, 'that you did not come to close quarters with her. But did you mark the tigress? Was she in sight when you gained the top of the hill?' 'What could your slave do?' replied the sowar, in a tone of humility ; ' could he outstrip the lightning?' Mansfield turned from the timorous braggart in disgust, and addressing the shikarees, in a few emphatic words urged upon them the necessity of pushing forward at their utmost speed to take up the man-eater's trail. "That fellow,' he added, 'has been of little service as a marker, but we may track her up again. She cannot have gone far. A hundred rupees for the man who follows her up to her lair ! ' A native would sell his hopes of the future for money, and the pleasant sound of rupees rousing them from their despondency, they eagerly recommenced the chase. Scattering themselves over the country, they inspected the soil with the earnestness of gold-diggers. Some time elapsed before any discovery rewarded their exertions, but at length a young villager, who had been scrutinizing a sheep track, suddenly halted, and gave the signal of success. On BHURM All's SIGNAL. 39 running to the spot, all were convinced that the footmark he had discovered was that of a tiger. But when the vete- ran Bhurmah came on the scene he contemptuously pro- nounced it to be at least three days old ! ["What a swindle!" ejaculated Mountjoy; "now I re- member " " Never mind your reminiscences at present," said Douglas. " Go on, Seymour; I call this ' thrilling !'"] The quest was recommenced with somewhat less eager- ness than before; but Bhurmah, turning away from the