The Tiger is exclusively an Asiatic animal, and his range extends, not only over the more southern part of that continent, but to the larger islands of the Archipelago, where he is particularly destructive. He is as tall as the lion, but not quite so powerful; he is, however, more agile, more graceful, and more insidious. He crouches, and mostly springs in the same manner as the lion and other feline animals; he is more ferocious, and will even fight with the lion. He seems to delight in blood itself, for he will kill several victims, suck their blood, and leave their carcasses to be devoured at another opportunity.
The colour of the tiger is a bright orange tawny, white underneath, and broad black stripes on the back, sides and tail. His head is rounder than that of the lion, and he takes the most enormous leaps; he is to be tamed to a certain extent, but never trusted. He prowls both night and day; and in some places, the devastation he has caused is terrific. Nothing can exceed the tragic tales which are told of him, in the countries where he exists in numbers; and in one part of India, it is said that at least three hundred lives were taken every year, within a district containing seven villages, independent of an enormous number of sheep, goats, and cattle. Horses will not stand in his presence with any steadiness; and the elephant is restless when in his vicinity. This sagacious animal often manages to shake him off; and if he have taken hold of his trunk, he tramples on him with his fore-feet and so destroys him. If he cannot dislodge him from his body, he lies down upon him, and attempts to kill him by rolling his ponderous weight upon him. Seldom, however, is the tiger the aggressor, unless he be driven to it by hunger, or maddened by pain and despair, and then he struggles till he dies. He hides himself with such caution and skill, that travellers are laid hold of without being aware of his vicinity. The bride has been snatched from her camel, the sportsman from his elephant, and the child from its mother.
Tigers are much more easily caught in traps than lions; and those most used, are made so as to fall upon them when they seize the bait. In Sumatra the natives poison the carcasses which are left for them, or they fasten these baits to a stake, or tree, and place a vessel filled with arsenic and water near by, of which the tiger invariably drinks, after making a full meal.
A tiger is easily started by a sudden noise, as the well-known story of Mrs. Day and her umbrella will prove; but I have another and more recent instance of this, which occurred to my brother. He was one evening on his return to his own house, from that of a brother officer with whom he had been dining, and he was met by his servants, who intreated of him to make haste home, for there was a tiger prowling round; and, in fact, a jackal was close to him, who so often accompanies the tiger when seeking his prey. My brother had been two or three years in India, and yet had never seen one of these animals, so he told his men they might return, but he should stay, for he much wished to see a tiger. They in vain tried to dissuade him; but, fancying the beast was close by, they all ran away, and left him to his fate. He sat down quietly by the bank of his garden, and had not been there long when the tiger actually appeared. He stopped, looked very grand, and seemed doubtful whether he should make an attack on the motionless person before him, and there never was a more beautiful animal than he appeared to be. He uttered a sort of growl, and crouched down, as the cat often does when tormenting a mouse; and my brother almost gave himself up for lost. He fancied that he had been hidden, and that the tiger could not perceive him as he passed; but he took off his grenadier cap, which was large, and covered with bear's skin, and putting it before his face roared in it as loudly as he could; the noise and the action so surprised the tiger, that he turned round, and leaped into the neighbouring thicket. My brother hastened away, and met his servants, who, now the danger was over, were coming to protect their master with drums and torches.
The tiger has been known to snatch without springing, of which the following anecdote, told me by a friend, is a confirmation. He was going up one of the rivers in Assam, at the time when our troops took possession of that country, in a covered boat, and his principal servant retired on to the roof of the covering, to smoke at his ease. The river was narrow, the banks were high, and they were going at a leisurely pace, when my friend heard a slight scuffle over his head, then a scream, followed by the cries of his party. On inquiring the cause, the latter told him that a tiger had crept on to the top of the boat, put out his paw, laid hold of the man as the boat passed, and dragged him into the jungle.
The history of an unfortunate guide is an instance of the immediate mischief which ensues from the first blow of one of these powerful creatures. The poor man remonstrated with the officer, whose party he was conducting, on the imprudence of marching before daylight; but the officer, supposing it to be laziness, threatened to punish him if he did not go on. The man took his shield and sword, and walked along the narrow path, bordered on each side by high grass and bamboo. After going five miles, the officer heard a tremendous roar, and a large tiger passed him, so close, that he nearly brushed his horse, and sprang upon the guide. The latter lifted up his shield, but he was down in an instant, and under the tiger's paws, who seized him with his teeth, growled, and looked at the officer. The tiger was attacked, and so severely wounded that he dropped his victim; but it was all over with the poor guide, the first blow had literally smashed his head in pieces.
In a plain near the Narbudda river, a party were hunting a tiger; but the beast did not seem inclined to come to a battle with his antagonists. He trotted across the plain, and as he passed an unfortunate cow, he raised his paw, gave her a blow on the shoulder, and she fell. He went on, and when the hunters examined the cow, she was dead, he having left the print of every toe, and, in fact, every part of his paw upon the shoulder blade, without making the smallest wound.
The following anecdotes have been obtained from various sources, and some of the narrators were actors in the scenes described. A tiger had sprung upon the shoulder of Lieutenant Colnett's elephant, who in this situation fired at him, and he fell. Conceiving him to be disabled, the Lieutenant descended from the elephant for the purpose of dispatching him with his pistols; but in alighting, he came in contact with the tiger, who had only crouched for a second spring, and who, catching hold of him by the thigh, dragged him some distance along the ground. Having succeeded in drawing one of a brace of pistols from his belt, Lieutenant Colnett fired, and lodged a ball in the body of the tiger, when the beast became enraged, shook him violently without letting go his hold, and made off towards the thickest part of the jungle with his prey. In the struggle to disengage himself from the clutches of the animal, the Lieutenant caught hold of the tiger by both his ears, and succeeded, after some time, in throwing the beast on his side, when he availed himself of his momentary release to draw forth the remaining pistol, and placing the muzzle at the breast of the tiger, shot him through the heart. He then returned to his elephant, which he mounted without assistance, feeling at the moment little pain from his wounds, although he received no fewer than thirty-five, from the effects of which he long afterwards continued to suffer.
A very large Royal tiger descended from some heights. After he had settled himself, a party advanced, and he seemed anxious to charge, but showed great reluctance to quit the spot where he had rested. Several balls struck him in the flanks, and a musket ball having pierced his side obliquely, passed through his liver, and he did not rise again. His skin measured ten feet four inches and a half, and he was ten years of age; for he had ten lobes to his liver, and it is by the appearance of the tiger's liver that the natives ascertain the age.