The Concordia eagle. [volume] (Vidalia, La.) 1873-1890, 1884-11-29
THE MAN EATER OF DORAYPORE.

According to their habits in procuring
their food, tigers are divided, by the
people of India, into three classes. The
least harmful is the 'game-kifier," who
lives in the hills and dense forests where
game is abundant and leads the life of
bold, honest hunter. He feeds chiefly
upon deer and wild hogs, retreats readily
from man, and so long as he remains a
game killer, he is real blessing TO the
ryots who have hard work to protect
their crops from the droyes Of deer and
wild hogs.
The ''cattle-lifter" is big. fat, lazy
thief, too indolent to pull down fleet
footed wild animals, who prowls around
the villages after nightfali, or the edge
of the jungles where the cattle are
herded, and kills bullock about every
four or five days. The annual loss to the
cattle owners, whose herds are thus
proved upon by cattle-lifters. is very
great, since each tiger destroys. in n
year, cattle worth about four hundred
dollars.
But even the most industrious cattle
litter sinks into insigniticance in the
presence of the fierce ''man-eater, the
scourge and terror of the timid and de-
fenseless natives. Until tiger has once
had his fangs in human flesh, he has an
instructive fear of man, and unless
brought to bay will nearly always re-
treat from his presence. But with his
first taste of human blood that fear van
isbes forever. His nature changes. and
he becomes man-eater.
Tigers who prey upon human beings
10 l.
long acquaintance with man, have
ceased to fear him, and find him the
easiest prey to overcome and carry off
A large proportion of the man-eaters are
NANCY, superannuated old tigers or
tigresses whose teeth and claws have
become blunt from long usage, and who
find it too great an exertion to kill and
drag off bullocks.
, Thanks to our English sportsmen,
and improved firearms, man-eating
tigers are now rare compared with
what their numbers once we're. 1t is
not possible now for single tigress 10
cause the desertion of thirteen villages
and throw out of cultivation tract of
country fifteen miles square, as once oc-
CURED; nor for another to kill one hun
bred and twenty-seven persons before
being laid low. Yet, in spite of zeal
Gus English sportsmen and breech-load-
ing rifles, the man-eaters still devour
over eight hundred human beings in
India every year.
II is but natural that in the tiger
country one should hear many very in
teresting tiger stories, 1t once hap
pened that at the close of glorious
days bison-shooting on the Animallai
Hills with my old friend, Theobald, we
sat before cheerful campfire in the
jungle over our chocolate and sweet
meats, with our native followers all
about us, discussing the events of the
day.
'.Did you ever kill a man-eater, Theo-
baldp" | asked presently.
"Yes"
Tell me all about it, won't you?'
said 1. with hungry interest. Had he
many people to account for?"
Thirteen, if / remember rightly.
All, he was famous brute in his day.
They called him the 'Man-eater of Dor
aypore.' That was several years ago,
and was quite a youngs3er then, be
added, with smile, as he stroked his
long, jet-blaok beard. do you really
want to hear all about it?''
Yes, everything you can remem-
ber."
Well. the Doraypore man-eater was
the terror of little village OF that name.
and several other villages, too, for that
matter, right down below here. not far