It will be recollected that, in the International Exhibition of 1862, two very fine tigers, shot by Colonel Eeid, were exhibited.* Colonel Eamsay’s tiger was

• Mr. Ward, jun. exhibited, in the Paris Exhibition of 1887, a very striking group of a lion and tiger fighting. He calls it “ The Encounter-’*

larger than either of these. I give his dimensions, as taken by Mr. Ward, jun. and myself:

Dimensions of Colonel Ramsay’s Tiger. Ft. In. Length from nose to end of tail 12 0.... 1 Length of tail 3 9....... Height from heel to shoulder 3 7.... , Extreme length from shoulder to toe. 4 2 From elbow to point of toe. 2 5 Girth of body behind shoulders. 5 3 Girth of fore-arm ... 2 10* Girth of neck 3 7 Circumference of head.. 3 8 From ear to ear 1 6* Length of upper canine teeth 0 3.... Length of lower ditto 0 If Circumference of upper canines at gums 0 3 Breadth across the chest from head of one humerus to head of other 1 8 Length of claws 0 3

In order to compare these measurements with those of other tigers, Mr. Ward, jun. kindly furnished me with the following: Average Size of Tigers. Ft. In. Length from nose to end of tail 9 5 Length of tail.2 10 Height from heel to shoulder 3 2 Extreme length from shoulder to toe.... 3 11 From elbow to point of toe 2 0 Girth of body behind shoulder 5 3 Girth of fore-arm 2 7 Girth of neck 3 0 Circumference of head 3 3 The gigantic proportions of Col. Ramsay’s tiger will, by these measurements, be duly appreciated.

As regards the age of the beast, I believe the Colonel’s idea, that he was about twelve years old, to be quite correct, backed as it is by the opinion of General — a great authority on these matters. It is generally supposed that the natural duration of a tiger’s life is about twenty years.

It is just as well these tigers should be slain, for the “ Burra Bagh,” or big tiger, is not only, like all cats, a great thief, but also a murderer as well.* There is a story told of one tiger, who, in six months, killed and devoured forty natives, out of whom sixteen were post-men, these poor fellows being obliged to be out at all times and in all weathers, carrying about the letter-bags. As our own domestic puss knows well enough where the sparrows come to feed, and will sit and wait for them for hours together, so the “ Burra Bagh ” knows which way the postman will come, and will wait for him as he is walking on his lone journey, spring out from behind some dense bush or favouring rock, knock him down with a stroke of his immense paw, and carry him off to devour him at his leisure. A human being in the mouth of a tiger is perfectly powerless. The strength of a man is nought as compared to that of a tiger; and even should he escape instant death, the wounds

received often prove fatal.

But the worst of all tigers is the man-slayer, generally

• See Appendix, number of wild animals killed in India.

a worn-out old beast, whose claws are too blunt, and teeth too much worn down to hold (even if he could catch him,) a deer, a buffalo, a sheep or a goat. The brute, therefore, takes to eating men and women, and especially the latter, when they go to fetch water for domestic purposes. But the brave hunter demands revenge, and he shoots the tiger, and then rifles the murderer’s den. What does he find? “ The old Skekarry ” will tell us. “ This was evidently the hecatomb of the man-eater, for I counted, from skulls and other human remains, about twenty-three victims of both sexes, as we could see from the hair, clothes, broken armlets, and gold and silver ornaments belonging to native women. Wo picked up two massive silver bracelets belonging to his last victim, whose remains were identified by the villagers who were with us. We also found two gold teckas, or neck-ornaments, which mark the married women, and a knife which, we were assured, had belonged to a postman missing about a month before.”

In the Islet of Singapore also, the tiger is a terrible scourge, because there is no game upon the island, and he is driven to prey on human beings. Chinese coolies are the sufferers, to the extent of, perhaps, five hundred every year, about four hundred being the reputed average of cases reported, which is considerably more than one man every day.

We English folk, especially the ladies, are, I am well aware, always ready to admire what is beautiful, whether in nature or art; and what can be more beautiful than the markings on a tiger’s skin, be he dead or alive? The lion’s coat is of a tawny sand colour, that he may escape observation when drawing up, in the grey dawn of the morning, on the unsuspecting antelope (there are no true deer in Africa: south of the Atlas they are all antelopes). The coat of the tiger is of a very different nature; its groundwork consists of a yellowish pattern, which is slashed, as it were, with long broad black stripes.

Now this is the very coat which is most suited for the dense jungles, where the tiger loves to dwell, viz., amongst patches of a shrub called corinda, which is common throughout most parts of India. It is not a tall-growing bush, but its leaves are closely set, and droop so as to form a series of dark leafy tunnels, af-fording a delightful cover to the beast. He also frequents the jungle of long grass and reeds, and, when skulking through the dark shade, either of corinda or jungle, it would be almost impossible to make out his huge cat-like carcase creeping along like a silent shadow. The marks upon the tiger’s head, moreover, are very peculiar. If we ordinary mortals were to have a tiger’s head presented to us, from which the spots

had been rubbed out, and were to attempt to put them in again, we should probably so dispose them that we should cause the creature’s face to be anything but graceful or pretty; whereas Nature’s mode of “ enamelling” is really a good bit of work, and will stand the closest examination. The New Zealanders tattoo their faces, but make their patterns in a more or less spiral form. The patterns on the tiger’s face are disposed generally somewhat in the form of

over the if there be a well-shaped Wa W; and eyes, the more beautiful is the skin in the opinior of tiger-hunters and naturalists.*

Anxious to obtain information about certain pai

Mr. Blyth thus writes in “Land and Water”:—“Recently,

when in the shop of Mr. Ward, jun. of Wigmore Street, Cavendish Square, I was shown a most remarkable tiger skin from Central India (!), utterly unlike any other which either myself or a military friend of great experience in the matter who accompanied me ever beheld previously. This tiger skin has just double tho number of stripes of any other that I have seen, and a considerable extension of black along the middle of the back. Of black tigers I have heard of many alleged instances, but not of one authentic case; for they all proved to be black pards, which are not uncommon in various localities. Of albino tigers I know of three instances, and one of them was exhibited many years ago in London, in Exeter ’Change, and a figure of this animal appears in Griffith’s English edition of the “Regne Animal” of Baron Cuvier. Hybrids, between the lion and tigress have been several times produced; but the tiger breeds less freely than the lion in a state of captivity. Three to five cubs constitute the usual produce.”

SER. III. S

ticulars relative to tigers, I put the following queries in the 11 Field,” and the editor (the late Mr. Crock-ford) and myself received the following interesting and valuable information from gentlemen who were kind enough to allow their notes to be published.* It is by friends kindly unearthing and utilising the information they possess, that valuable facts, which would be otherwise unrecorded, are made public for the benefit

of all.

QUERIES AND ANSWERS RELATIVE TO

TIGERS.

No. 1. Are there more than one species of tiger? and what is the average weight of a tiger?

Many native shikaries say there are two species. They describe one as being very long in the body and short in the legs, very active, can make enormous springs, and far more ferocious than the other, but at the same time very rare. Amongst sixty odd tigers, at whose deaths I have been present, there were three which were certainly peculiar in their form. In length they exceeded average tigers, but their heads were very small, and their bodies remarkably lightly made. They greatly resembled the figure of a panther, and I believe they could not have been two-thirds of the weight of an ordinary-made tiger of the same length. I consider, however, that these were merely individual peculiarities, and I have no doubt that it is meeting with odd cases like these which causes natives to fancy that

I now quote from the “ Field,” various dates in 1863.

there are two species. It is a fact, I believe, that tigers which live in flat countries are, on an average, considerably larger than those which occupy hilly districts. I have never seen a tiger weighed, but judging from the number of men required to lift a full-grown one, I should think 700 lb. would not be very far from the mark.—J. (Central India.)

I never weighed a tiger, but judging from other game, I should say he might weigh 6 cwt. A camel’s load is supposed to be 450 lb., and he has much difficulty in carrying a tiger, even when gutted first, for a short distance: whereas the 450 lb. is his load for a fifteen-mile march. Col. Ramsay’s tiger is a very large one, but I have seen certainly three if not four or five larger ones, and have killed one myself, on foot, 12 ft. 7 in. long. I have seen two over 13 ft. long. You say, “If the sportsman does not kill the tiger, the tiger kills him.” In some instances, of course, you mean; but very rarely perched atop of an elephant.—M. B., 72nd Highlanders.

With regard to the weight of a tiger, I can only give a rough guess. I remember that on one occasion a large tigress which I had shot was carried off (as it fell) to my tents, a distance of three or four miles, at a pretty good pace, by eight men. It took twelve men to carry home a large sambur stag, which was shot shortly afterwards, which the villagers stupidly did without first taking out its inside. Having frequently seen various descrip-tions of deer weighed, I should fancy that the sambur I refer to would have weighed as it fell about 600 lb. So that, supposing that the men were individually carrying nearly the same weight, the tigress would have weighed about a third less, i.e. 400 lb. The tigress I referred to measured 9J ft. in length; a tiger of the size of the one exhibited in the “ Field” window would most probably weigh fully half as much again. Shortly after my return from India, I went and had a look at the tigers in the Regent’s Park. I noticed particularly that, though fine specimens of their kind, they looked very much thinner than those I had seen a month or two before in the jungles. So that a person attempting to judge of the weight of a tiger in the natural condition, by looking at these, or in fact any other in s 2