The Tiger

Generally speaking.the tiger, ur.less he is a man-eater, will not attack a human being. When, however, he is wounded, he will turn and fight desperately. Tigers "appear to be af raid to encounter man until they have once had an encounter witli him, -when all fear ceases ever after. But -whenever a tiger has once tasted human blood, it even seeks it in pref erence to all otkers. " "Dr. Fayrer thinks it probable that, on account of the general disarming of the natives after the mutiny, the number of tigers has increased rather than diminiahed of late years. Their ravages are certainly appalling. Capt. Rogers says that in lower Bengal alone, during the six years ending in 1866, 13,400 human beings were killed by wild animáis, while Government reports state that during the same period and in the same locaüty, 4,218 of the above feil victims to tigers, while 4,287 were slain by wolves. In the Rangpore district alone, the yearly loss of lif e is betwoen flfty-flve and xty. The exploits of individual tigers are even more reremarkable. We read of one tiger which, in 1867, 1868, 1869, killed 27, 34, and 47 people. Once it killed a father, mother, and three children, within a few moments. This dangerons brute killed 27 persons in the week before it was shot. Another tiger destroyed during 1856, 1857, 1858, an average of 80 persons annually. A third tiger in 1869 slew 127 people, and stopped up a public road for several weeks till killed by an English sportsman. So great is the awe -which this tyrant of the jungle inspires that whole villages are -metimes deserted, and all cultivation in the neighborhood stopped. A Government report informe us that in the Central Provinces "a single tigress caused the desertion of thirteen villages, and 250 square miles of country were thrown out of cultivation." The inhabitants of India, especially the Hindoos, believe the tiger to be the abode of an evil spirit, and many would not kill him if they could for fear of subsequeat mischief. So great a dread in some parts of the country ís feit by the peasants of his supernatural powers and malevolent disposition, that they either avoid naming him at all or speak of him as "the jackal," or the "beast." There is almost a universal belief that his flesh, especially his heart, if eaten, produces courage and strength. His whiskers, claws, and fangs are also religiously preserved as potent charms.