The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1891-02-21
MAN-EATERS.
Sss4 TERRIBLE AND CUNNING
TIGERS OFINDiA.

UT n.
1''oy Abound i'm the Jungics-
Thc Most Wary of AnimaIs-Ops
ferrOrized Village for Fourteen
Years.
81 Samuel w. Baker. in his recep,
book, wild Beasts and their Ways. ,
ssys that if the tiger has been born in
Pnglos Astounding in wild pigs he is apt
% have a well-fed and comfortable ap.
Pearance, very different from the tiger of
me Geological Gardens, which ..is =
bong, 1.-THE creature, with little flesh.
Ano from the lack of exercise the muscles
arc badly developed. Such a specimen
Auords poor example of the grand ami
mai IN Its native jungles, whose muscles
se almost ponderous in their develop
ment from the continued excrtion in
AShtly rambles over long distances and
10 mortal struggles when wrestling with
It's prey. A well-fed tiger is by no means
Asi>m figure, but, on the contrary, it is
exceedingly bulky, broad in the Shout
Gers, back and loins, with an extraord:-
nary girth of limbs, especially in the
forearm and wrist. The muscles are
Tough and hard, and there are two pecu-
llar bones unattached to the skeleton
frame; these are situated in the flesh of
stheT shoulder, apparently to afford ex-
ira cohesion of the parts, resulting in
additional strength when striking blow
or wrestling with heavy animal"
He has something very clear and def
ate to say about the man-eater: "a pro-
!esscd maneater is the most wary of
animals and is very difficult to kill, not
because 1t is superior in strength, but
through Its extreme caution and cunning,
which renders its discovery a work Of
long labor and patient search. An aver
age native does not form a very hearty
NEAL The man-eatcr will seize an I'M
inspecting person by the neck and will
hen drag the body to some retreat in
which it can devour its prey in undls-
iurbed security. Having consumed the
more fieshy portions, it will probably
leave the body, and will never retarn
tgaln to the carcass; but will seek a
fresh victim, perhaps, at some miles dis
.snce, in the neighborhood of another
siliagc. Their cautious habits render
It almost impossible to destroy a cum
aing man-eater, as it avoids all means of
detection. In this popularity the ordi,
aary man-eatirg tiger differs from all
others, as the cattlc-killer is almost GER
ain to return on the following night to
The body which it only partially de-
'oured after the first attack.
But the ''man-eater" is not the only
seourge. There are tigers which never
:ouch men but are terrible robbers of /
cattle. Sir Samuel gives an account offs
one of these:
Although the tiger as a man eater is
\ terrible scourge. and frequently inflicts /,
'ncredible loss upon the population of a
there are tigers in existence !
which would never attack human be- !
ng, although they exist upon the cattle :
n the villages and have every opportu-
,ity OF seizing women and children in
heir immediate neighborhood. About
ilne years ago there was a we.l-knOwn
lnlmal of this character at a place called
'hundra, in the Jubbulpur district,
which was supposed to have killed up
ward OF 500 of the natives cattle. This
vas peculiarly large tiger, but so harm
css to man that he was regarded merely
n the light of a cattle lifter, and neither
woman nor child dreaded its appearance.
The natives assured me that during
ourteen years it had been the common
bJect of pursuit, both by officers, civil
ans and by their own shikaris, but
the tiger was possessed by the
EVIL, 1t was quite impossible to de-
troy it. This possession by an
vii spirit is a common belief, and in :
bis instance the people spoke of it
matter Of course that admitted of no I
rglment; they assured me that the :
ger was frequently met by the natives,
nd that it invariably passed them in a !
'lendly manner without the slightest S
emonstration of hostility, but that it I
ok away COW or bullock in the most i
OCULAR manner every fourth day. 1t {
aried its attentions, and having killed ,
lew head of cattle belonging to one a
Iflage 1t would change the locality for q
week or two, and take toll from those a
lthIn radius of four or five miles, a
ways returning to the same haunts and t
e'cupylnS OF laying up in the same jun S
Ie. The great popularity of this par 4
cufar tiger consisted in its extreme n
'ntempt for firearms; it exposed itself L
most without exception when driven r
line of heaters, and when shot at it y
IMPLY escaped, only to reappear upon a
e following day. / was informed that a
eTybody that had gone after "
had obtained shot, but bullets Il
ere of no use against devil, therefore S,
was always missed" +
The account of his killing of this an
'al is as follows:
Att this moment raised my eyes from
e nullans in which he was expected,
q ] saw, through the intervening leaf