The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-05-14
TRAITS OF THE INDIAN TIGER.
More Formidable Than the Lion and Cour.
ageous and Cowardly by Turns.

More Formidable Than the Lion and Cour-
ageous and Cowardly by Turns.
Speaking OF the tiger. he is easily the king
OF all the feline family" said Sidney Castron.
who arrived in New York last week from CAL
cutta. and last night was telling Jungle stories
to some friends. He can whip a lion. hands
down. as has been shown in every case report
ed where the two have como together on fair
terms. The tiger is as strong and heavy as the
lion, is swifter. more ferocious and more dan
gerous. He is a thorough Asiatic in his traits.
being subtle. crafty and recklesslv brave and
cowardly by turns. with the trouble for the
hunter that he never can tell when he Pushes
a tiger which way the brute will run. whether
from him or for him. In a fighting tenn
per a tiger will turn upon the hunters beat
ing the jungle on elephants. leap upon
the head or shoulder of the nearest elephant
and make things very unpleasantly lively for
the man upon his back. A tiger has been
known to charge straight upon a full battalion
OF soldiers and come near to breaking its form
alton before he could be disposed OF. Gen.
Wolseley. in a published account OF his march
with q detachment to the relief Of Gen. Have
lock in the Indian mutiny, tells how. during a
night march. n tiger sprang into the midst Of
his column upon a bullock attached to an am
munition wagon and attempted to carry it
oN"ys Nv SHNSiy '"a AF'ii' VI =
drove the tiger from the bullock. but he did
not quit the field. but remained standing under
a tree in full view. glazing at the procession
until it had marched by. AS every cartridge
and every minute was precious. the order was
given that no shot be fired at the tiger.
Nine times out of ten. on the other hand.
the tiger when hunted will run straight away.
or sneak and double in the thick jungle in
the effort to escape. In a bit OF cover he
will lie as close to the ground as n rabbit.
and all the cutlery and throwing Of stones by
the line OF heaters will not start him unless he
is actually hit. In hunting the tiger on foot it
Is usual to station the ,kOuts in trees to
watch for the first appearance Of the beast. II
one OF them sees the tiger trying to steal past
him he has only to break a dry stick sharply in
two and the cracking sound will turn the tiger
back. In short. when the brute once gets
scared and suspicious he is one OF the biggest
towards alive; c %h2 VIII Tba,s stand no wo" ms without
always is dangerous when driven to bay with
no show OF escape.
when confronted suddenly by anything which
he does not understand. The opening of a
P Pede a cSa a !hay Tiger ces and Nn an ex 20 isE%,
somewhat similar, occurred with a missionary
whom | knew. who told me the story. He
when he saw a tiger stealing toward him from
the Jungle on one side. He had no show to run
Of llEnJ, anu so he ulu Tile only tnlllR tHdU &C.
Cured to him to DO. and. dropping on his
evidently new to the tiger which, reused his
suspicious. for he stopped. sheered away and
at last went back into the Jungle. Another in
stance was that OF a civil official coming sud-
denly upon a tiger in the Jungle. Both were
taken equally by. surprise. and when the man
yelled out Scat! the big cat turned tail and
sneaked away.
las is generally known. a man-eating tiger
is usually an old beast which has got past his
time for catching game, and so seeks an easier
prey in human beings. But tigers born OF a
man-eating tigreSs are always man-caters, for
they get their first lessons In hunting from
their mother. A tigress teaches her whelps to
hunt as a cat does her kittens. by bringing
them live prey to practice upon. Ten years
ago. in one Of the hill districts of India. a
tigress was killed. whose taking Off caused
much rejoicing among the natives. and was
told at length in many of the Indian and Eng
fish newspapers. She was known al oyer India
whelps a live man to play with. She carried
where some woodcutters were sleeping. His
companions took. refuge in trees. and from
their place of safety saw her take the man
alive to where the whelps were waiting close
by. and lay him down before them. AS the
man attempted to crawl away the wheips
would cling to his legs with teeth and claws.
the tigress looking on and purrihg with pleas
ure. Whenever the man got too far ava from
the tigress. she would bound after him and
bring him back. When the whelps had had
enough of their sport. the tigress sprang upon
the man. and. holding him down with her fore
paws. began her meal from his living body"