, 1904-03-16
THE TIGER IMAM


lie WAS u ulSn caste native, gwen W
his books, and much of his philosophy
has been quoted in European countries.
He lived in the ruins of an old temple
ON the outskirts of q dense jungle,
and there he made and maintained
his fame as a tanner of wild beasts,
particularly tigers. He did not actu-
exercised over them was no less than
wonderful. Even with a thousand wit
nesses to c%orroborate facts one finds
it hard to believe in some of his do
ings.
Had he been so minded he could
have cleared the whole province of
tigers in two or three years and en-
riched himself with the bounty offered
for their heads and the heads of other
dangerous beasts and deadly serpents,
but he positively refused to bring harm
to a single denizen of the jungle. He
would throw no obstacle in the way of
hunters, and he expressed no sorrow
when he looked Upon a tiger slain by
others, but he had laid down a rule,
and nothing would induce him to
swerve from it. 1t often happened
that natives who had lost relatives or
oxen by the hunger of the king of the
jungle came to him and prayed for
vengeance, but in every instance his
reply was:
q" I'm sorry for you, but tigers must
have food as well as men. | will not
help you to kill one, but 1 will talk
to the beasts and ask them to be more
careful hereafter. l I'M sure they will
do this for me-"
AS soon as the Tiger Mans reputa-
ton began to spread there were
many who desired to put him to the
test, and during the long years of his
life 1t was seldom that he refused. A
hundred times over he has zone out
into the jungle alone at night and call
ed a tiger to him and led the beast to
the ruins for all to see. Sometimes the
tiger would crouch and creep and
whine, and again he would be fiercely
defiant and menace the spectators.
If the report came that a tiger in a
certain district had killed a human be-
ing, the man would set off for the place
without asking for fee or reward. He
would learn all he could about the
beast and then enter the jungle to
search him out. Sometimes he would
be seeking for several days, and when
night overlook him be made his camp
among the beasts and serpents of the
thickets. When the tiger had been
found, which was nearly always the
case If he had not left for another To-
cality, he would be taken by the ear to
the village in which he had seized his
victim and then be made to roll in the
dust by way of apology for his mis-
deed. He would then be told that he
must go at least fifty miles away and
live on the game of the jungle for the
next month, and it has been proved
over and over again that the tiger new
er failed to disappear.
1t was with the knowledge and ac-
tive participation of a governor of In
dia and not more than fifteen years ago
that the Tiger Man was put to the
hardest test of his life. He claimed i'm
munity from every species of wild
beast and serpent, and he was sent in
to a jungle in which three full grown
tigers had taken refuge from some
sportsmen, one of whom was the gov
ernor The hunt had ended at dusk,
and the Tiger MAJ would have dark
ness against him as he pushed his way
through the jungle. The locality was
known to be infested with cobras, and
just as the hunt was called off one of
the party caught sight of a ''rogue"
elephant stealing through the thicket.
No money would have hired a white
man to penetrate into the jungle at
night, and a native would have lain
down in his tracks and refused to stir,
no matter what punishment threaten
ed.
There were more than forty people
left behind as the Tiger Man set forth
upon his errand. He bowed before the
governor and said he would bring in
at least one of the tigers-one which
had been slightly wounded by a bullet.
He was heard whistling and chanting
as he penetrated the thickets, and he
was absent about three hours. When
he returned there were both commotion
and CONSERVATION. He was leading
the wounded tiger by the ear and was
followed by the two others, and after
the tiger came the elephant. There was
yet more. Around the mans left arm
was twined a huge cobra with glitter
ing eyes, and across his neck and
shoulders was another.
"Sahib, l bring you these presents
from the Jungle" said the Tiger Man
as he halted a few yards away.
But the governor didn't want them.
What he wanted vas to see them re-
stored to their native wilds as fast as
possible, particularly as the elephant
evinced a disposition to charge the
crowd. The Tiger Man had the adj
vantage, and he kept it for a long half
hour. He played with the deadly
cobras as if they had been twigs of
willow, and they made not the slight