The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-02-14

beast of Hindostan-is acknowledged
 to be too small and too timorous tt
 cope with the Bengal tiger, while the
 tiger does not inhabit Africa, the home
 of the gigantic black-maned and crest
 ed lions, largest of their family.
 meeting on equal terms between al
 Asiatic tiger and an African lion would
 be the only really satisfactory test o1
 the powers of the two great cats, and
 until few weeks ago, such meeting
 had never occurred.
 fairly fought battle between lior
 and tiger, however, has been decided al
 last, and the combat took place at the
 court of that well known sport and roy
 al good fellow, the GaekWar (Rajpul
 King) of Baroda, one of the numerous
 ''protected' monachies still existing
 under the shadow of the British crown
 in Hindostan. Ben F. Dodson, a trav-
 cling man who now ranges between
 New York and Chicago, but was once,
 like many other Americans, visitor at the palace of Baroda, received let
 ter few days ago from an English gentleman, Captain Travers, now tenn porarily domiciled in Bombay. Captain ] Travers, favorite of the GaekWar,
 was present at the meeting of the { mighty cats, and wrote MT. Dodson at much length concerning the great bat l tie.
 Captain Travers' letter says that the ! GaekWar, who is an enthusiastic natur- alist, and also much devoted to the gladiatorial diversions so beloved of all Indian princes, had long been in- tending to test the relative powers of the jungle monarchs, but had never been able to settle the matter in sat- isfactory fashion. So far as India is concerned, the tiger is supreme. He is superior to the lion of Hindostan in every particular, size, strength, activ- ity and courage. Statistics prepared by Gaekwar show that the average length, from nose to root of tail, of the tigers killed in his territories during the past ten years has been seven feet and four inches, while the average length Of the lions slain by his shikarries has been only six feet and six inches.
 On several occasions, Indian lions had been matched against Bengal tigers be- fore the assembled guests of the Gaek- war and the tiger had invariably come off victor. English visitors, men, agerie keepers and other competent au- thorities assured the Gaekwar that the tiger was the stronger and more dan gerous creature, but the prince de- clined to accept the verdict The Afri- can lion, he declared, was the acknowl- edged king of beasts, and needed only a fair trial to prove himself the master of the tiger. He said:
 q will get possession of an African lion some day, and will give public battle that shall be worth going miles to look upon."
 The Gaekwar opportunity came at last. Nearly year ago party of Arab hunters, ranging along the Atlas mountains between Morocco and Alge- ria, succeeded in capturing a magniii- cent specimen of the crested or Mount Atlas lion-the largest and most for midable of all African felidae, and much superior to the black maned lions of South Africa in bulk and bravery They managed to get the animal un- injured into a strongly constructed cage and sold him to some French shownen who soon after took their menagerie to Alexandria, Captain Wal ters and English officer who had fre- quently been guest of the Gaekwar, and knew of his earnest desire for an African lion, happened to be in Alex andria and make the Frenchman sub stantial offer for their crested prisoner. The Frenchmen who were in money difficulties, gladly parted with the lion, and the next English steamer for Bom- Ia1 n11 nf \ t1 as an unwilling passenger.
 The Gaekwar was as delighted as a child with new toy when he received the monster. He gave orders to put the lion into a roomy inclosure and to ] feed him as befitted a lion of his size /, and dignity. Atlas, as the giant was named, quickly recovered from the fa- tigue of his travels, ate heartily, and l roared so furiously at night that many | of the Gaekwar's visitors, unable to sleep on account of the noise, retired to the suburbs of Baroda.
 The Gaekwar's next step was to send | his shikarries out in all directions, with | orders to get the largest tiger that 1 money could buy or their arts make | prisoner. He then sent invitations to | SCDI6S Ol bTllISH OlllCGlS anu f1lluOD potentates, announcing that a grand | trial of the strength of lion and tiger | would take place at Baroda on Novem- Der 10, as the chief feature of long and varied programme Guests began to pour in, and Baroda vas soon crowd ed with the sportive blood of India, all eager to see the coming battle and prodigal with ready wagers.
 The Gaekwar's shikarries had been unable to scare up any tigers in the Baroda country, but an English sports ! man at Simla, wishing to help his old | friend along, built a trap and capt ured a veteran man-eater, long regard { ed as one of the most terrible tigers of . the Himalaya region. This beast arriv- ed at Baroda on October 20, and the betting, which had been to 1 on the lion, at once began to turn the other way The Simla tiger was demoniacal creature in appearances middle-aged brute of enormous bulk, immeasurable and a cruel, crafty eye The