The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1883-09-20
e.AsIlian. Tiger and Boar.

E.
Is the lion or the tiger the superior in
courage and strength 2 There is little
evidence on recordt to help us 70 a de-
cision;fbut allthat thereisis completely
in favor of the tiger. The two animals
have been put together 90 fight, but the /.
lion has. invariably declined the combat.
They have accidentally got into each
'otherl' cages, anditlfe tiger bias killed the
lion. Feats of strengthi aie'authenti- i
Gated Of the tiger to which the lion can,
on evidence, lay. no claim, and of the
courage before man, The evidence is all
on 5the side Of the tiger. For myself,
then, I give the preference without
hesitation to the tiger. The poets give
their preference to the lion, rr 4
For in the poets the tigeu1forms part
of the courtier-retinde of the lion
"Gaunt wolves and sullen tigers in his
train having, as Spenser, Allan
Ramsay and others state, defeated the
tiger in single combat when the prize
was the sovereignty of the animal
world. Crowley speaks of the lion as
thirsting for tigers blood. Southey,
initiating his fancy. does the same
and of tigers s'trembling' while the
lion sleeps; while several others de
scribe the two as meeting, and the tiger
giving way ~
rho shaggy lion r,ishcs to the plnce.
With roar tremendous seizes on his prey.
Exasp'rate see! the tiger springs away,
Stops short and natldens at the monarch's
growl; 20 ,tal-t.a9. llf ...lsH
And through his eyes darts all its furious
Haif-wiiled, yet half afraid to dare bound,
He eyes his loss, and roars, and tears the
ground. = .....
/ Yet, in spite of the poets, l am of
opinion that very considerable dignity
attaches to the Rnja of the iungles.
Sportsmen know wellwhat an over
whelming awe possesses all wild life
when its voice is heard The Wild boar
it is true, will turn upon it, but then
the wild boar is the type among the
beasts Of a chivaHy thatis Quxotic in
its rashness; and the tiger by this pre-
snmptuous. conduct arrives at pork that
heocould mot otherwise have captured,
AS have said before, there, is no
nonsense about the tiger, as etHere is.
about the lion. T" He docs. not go about
imposing on poets. & Wolves may, if
they like, pretend that they. are only
dogs gone wrong from want of better
bringing up, and the lion swagger as if
he were something more than very
large cat; but the tiger never descends
to such prevarication, setting himself
up for better than he is, or claiming re-
spect for qualities which he knows he
does not possess. There is no ambigui-
ty about anything he does. All his
eharacter is on the surface, II am, =
he eisays,i lthoroughgoing, downright
wild beast, and if You. don 4 like me you
must lump me; but in the meanwhile
you had better get out of my way
There is no pompons alfectation of SUI
Iperinr ''intelligencen about tigers. If
they are met with in giungles, they do
not make-belieYe for the purpose OF inn
pressing the traveller with their uncom-
mon magnanimity, or waste, time like
the hon in .superiluous roarings, shak-
ings of heads, or 'looking kingly.n On
the contrary, they behave honestly and
l-cahdidly like the wildsbeasts they are.
lEhey either retire precipitately with ev-
cry confession Of alarm, or intheir own
tine ouispoken way Ego for the stranr
ger.n Nor when they make oif,do they
10 it as if they liked it or had any half
mind about it.ras the hon, that Living
stone tells us trots away slowly till il
Thinks itself out ofasight and then. bounds
Foh like greyhound--wasting time in
pretentious attitudes or in trying to save
appearances They have mo idea of
showingloff. If they mean to go, they
go like lightning, and don't, for a mo-
ment think Of the. figure they may be
cutting. But if, on the other hand, they
nieansfighting. they, give the stranger
kNeryllttle leisureifor misunderstanding
their intentions. BelgraviR. s