The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-27 00:00:00

sent American troubles are not only signs of the just
vengeance of God, but the vis.ble preparation for the uni-
versal ascendancy of his chosen people, The North and
South will equally decline in wealth and population by
means of this internecine war, till the appointed hour when
the Saints shall arise in their unexhausted vigour, and
marching eastward repossess the land of their fathers, re-
build the temple of Nauvoo, and establish, amid the ruins
of the follies and crimes of generations, the millennial
America of restored humanity. In the meantime Utah,
unceasingly replenished from the populations of Europe,
and affording the only possible asylum to the 'victims of
American confusion, will stand apart, the witness and in-
strument of the Will of God.

Discouraging as the present aspect of affairs is to
American well-wishers we fear the Saints' general
anticipations will be shared in by few. It is justly
observed, elsewhere, in this paper, that " the
weakest believer in the progress of mankind
can show no examples of the permanence of a
system founded on a descent in the standard of
morality deliberately adopted." A cordial tri-
bute to Mrs. Norton's poetical talents accompanies
a very favourable criticism on her new work. The
"Lady of La Garaye," in which the elevated tone
of thought, and the mournful pathos of the poem
receive deserved commendation. An able sum-
mary of the state of affairs at the opening of
George the Third's reign, is given in an essay
founded on Mr. May's Constitutional History.
The narrowness of the King's mind, and the ob-
stinacy of his determination, are dwelt upon, and
the source of the discontent of the people and the
difficulties of the Administration are rightly traced
to the infatuation of the monarch who set out on
his career with the deliberate intention of turning
the nation backwards, and of undoing all the work
that had been done in 1688, and of sacrificing the
gains bought at a dear price by Crown and
people in the great Civil War. An essay en
" Felix Mendelssohn," one of the most fortunate,
as well as one of the most gifted of men, is full
of interest. It is justly observed that, "Among
the histories of hope deferred, of powers wasted,
of faculties half developed, of passions forced into
preternatural activity, which the biography of
musicians includes, the virtuous, brilliant, and suc-
cessful career of Felix Mendelssohn stands alone
and apart." Alas that a career so favoured by Nature
and by Fortune should have been so brief ! That
" the blind fury with the abhorred shears" should
have " slit the thin spun life" when the great
artist's powers had barely reached their full de-
velopment. But, as the writer observes, it Felix
Mendelssohn died in early manhood it was in the
meridian of his fame) and the public success and
private happiness of his life was such as is seldom
granted to mortals ; most rarely of all to those
favoured children of genius, whose keener suscepti-
bilities render them more quickly sensitive to
sorrow at the same time that the elevation of their
powers renders them a mark for the attacks of
envy and prejudice.

The Wild Sports of India. By Major Henry
Shakespeare. Second edition. Smith, Elder,
and Co.
That Major Shakespear's work should have been
favourably received by the public is nothing more
than was to be expected. An author who sets out
with the desire of imparting useful information on
a subject in which he is a proficient for the benefit
of tyros, rather than for the sake of writing for
writing sake, is guided by practical experience
rather than by the desire of producing a grand effect.
This with a man of Major Shakespear's knowledge
of woodcraft in India is certain to succeed. On the
publication of the first edition we gave a general
notice of the work, and called attention to some
passages remarkable for good sense and judgment.
Many additions have, however, been made in the
second edition, mostly relating to precautions which
it is necessary that the young sportsman should avail
himself of when in pursuit of wild beasts. That in
the excitement of the chase a man will voluntarily
occur dangers to secure his geme, which, on calmer
moments he would never dream of encountering, is
well known ; but why should not the hunter have
method in his madness as well as other people. The
ability to take advantage of the peculiarities of the
ground, how best to avoid or deal with an antago-
nist at close quarters and other expedients to be
made use of in cases of emergency, is a life assur-
ance of which the proprietor reaps the benefit in-
stead of his heirs. A careful perusal of Major
Shakespear's experiences and adventures will be of
great service to those who are about to visit Hindos-
tan and are partial to exciting sport, and highly
interesting to the general reader from the plain
straightforward and matter-of-fact way in which
he describes feats the most daring, and contretemps
the most unpleasant. The author, in his nreface to
this edition, states that he has added considerably
to the details which may be useful to the sportsman
going out to India, both for his health, comfort,
and safety. He also reminds parents that by
those youths who take no delight in field-sports
his book will be laid aside like any other
story book; while on the other hand the boy whose
mind is bent on encountering that which is excit-
ing and dangerous, will not be restrained from
gratifying his desire by his ignorance of the
modus operandi. With the exception of these
general instructions being more complete, there
is little to be said of the present edition, in ad-
dition to what has already been said in a previous
notice. The description of hog-hunting is very
exciting, and the hints thrown out to the novice
are so placed in the narrative of various hunts,
that their value is felt at once. Major Shake-
spear was successful as a tiger hunter, and, as be
says of himself, was on one occasion instrumental
under Providence in destroying two man-eaters.
These are tigers which, despising inferior game'
devote all their energies to the destruction of the
human race. This class is, however, only excel?"
tional, and fortunate it is for the natives that it is
so. The author mentions an instance of a tigress
who killed during three years the extraordinary
number of 114 individuals. She combined suchA
excessive cunning and daring that although hunte'
by marl experienced sportsmen, no one had the,
satisfaction or credit of destroying her. At all
events, her body was never found, but she was
lost sight of, and never seen or heard of more'
Major Shakespear gives a very reasonable
planation for tigers becoming " man-eaters," which
like most of his arguments, is founded on natural
causes

THE MAN-EATER.
The natives, who are very superstitious, consider that
the man-eating tiger that has taken up his abode near the
village, is an evil spirit sent to destroy them ; and they gile
themselves up most helplessly to this scourge, firmly be:
lieving that it is the will of their Deity, and that they Sr'
therefore quite impotent to destroy the animal ; but let lie
look into the real causes of tigers becoming man-eaters,
and we shall not wonder that they are here and there
only to be found; but that they are not much more nurae-
hk.tiallae:frg
roue.
There is a class of Hindoos throwthroughout all the villages in
the Deccan, Nagpore, andother gof India, whose duty
parts
it is, in a country where roads are scarcely marked, and
paths during the monsoon or rainy season are obliterated,
to show the traveller from village to village on the journey'
he is going. The 3 also carry baggage, etc., for which they
receive some trifling remuneration. The other duties per-
formeds by this class are that of village watchmen, sweepe!,
and clearers away of all animals that may die within the
village and its boundaries. Their caste is of course a very
_
-eaters,
low one, and in most villages and towns where there are
any number of respectable Hindoos, or Mahomedans, this
class, which is called the Dare class, is not permitted to re-
side among the other inhabitants, but ground is allotted to
1 them outside the village ; and this locality obtains the name
of the Darewarra.
Now, in recompense for their services as watchmen:
guides, and porters, as well as scavengers, they are allowed
certain grounds rent-free from Government ; and this Is
regulated by their number and the extent of the grounds,
population, and wealth of the village. They have the
es-
elusive right over all animals that die within the limits ?..'•
their village, from whatever cause ; these are their perqty _
they die from disease, old age, accident, or from the stroke
sites; and they eat indiscriminately ad animals, whether
of the wild animal of the jungle. The village cattle, whe-
ther buffalo, bullocks, cows, sheep, or goats, are taken o 0
to graze upon lands common to the village, under one of
two herdsmen or shepherds, according to the number o
animals, and each owner pays to the gowlee (herdsman) the
T grazing-ground
gow igowlee
(her
di is
(herdsman)
in
na3diesnisne
nj uonwalye irnefsepsotoed„A,brie
regulated village price for looking after his animal ; at night
they are all brought back to the village. Now very com-
monlytigers, and, as a matter of course, cattle are constantlyg
directly this k
has nothing further to
heienimst:l.tihse village, and _kite;
doiosl
ol.tmhi than n t
heardtoodrne.
drive
eoo;raj.auta
yet
cf
oay et
thh
rush the dares, whose property it has become,
secure the claimtohfeabhoudnyd-raels;other 'slain tua'r°
adikt has been hiism
is lost, by their absurd rules, to t"
hit thehse animal
tiger,nniimnanimal
aalai and
The hungry dares will go tart on to the
yin__ of
hte
funfortunate
to owner
jungle to recover the hod yp( ;of thea,
dbullockr
into the •
the tiger, securing themselves b
the animal • tai ches and shouting
ee,
mal , and this, indeed, is the best flesh they be',
killed and bled by their butcher the tiger,oftentimes I—..
mauled, he not having had time
~.t it.
to commence to v- bio
y
Now the unfortunate tiger, day after day baulked of 0
food, after he has killed his
animal, becomes uncorau.'eg.
hungry, and at length either watches the ghat (vrateLiv or
place) where the women go down to wash and bathe, "-of
which he seizes his victim, or else he dogs the footstep.s,,v,
the unwary woodcutter, and once having found out Al_oL.suir,
utterly helpless a man is in his grasp, he becomes a ev
firmed man-eater. taro e
The tiger can take a man in his mouth and carry ---f be
considerable distance, and oonstantly the remains o ._,
body are not recovered ; there are no hungry dares to Ti.,:,
any interest in them. Injuries received by the tiger of
conflicts with his own species, wounds from horns, 10.10010.
the large fangs of the teeth, old age taking away the vigs in
of the animal, wounds from bullets, all these are eauseit is
a minor degree of tigers becoming man-eaters ; but , to
my firm belief that the system of allowing the darliger
carry away the carcass of the animal killed bY.th,e, oci
is the primary cause. It is an acknowledged right ruis
perquisite, agreeably to the village regulations up to
time. ci
Many a bitter disappointment is the sportsman subJte
beeaps
to, who, having heard of the kill of an animal, per
several miles off from where he is, and hurrying his 6 with.
rees (native hunters) rifles, and himself to the spot,
_,..e,
the hopes of getting a shot at the tiger from behind a 5T,13.0
when he comes to take his meal, finds on him arrival gilled
village that the dares have carried off bodily the gars (ki rid
animal) • had they left this, the sportsman would have
the jungle of that tiger.
The habits of the panther, wild elephant, 4114