"Very interesting was the collection of natural history, which included the skins of two enormous tigers killed a few years before in one of the Southern districts of Western Siberia. Both these tigers had histories, and were supposed to be murderers; one of them fell after a long fight in which he killed one of his assailants and wounded two others. The other tiger had sprung upon a man who was riding one horse and leading another; the man escaped by leaving the led horse for the tiger to devour. He rode to the nearest village where he could obtain weapons and assistance, and then returned to the locality of the attack. Carefully creeping through the tall grass, he found the tiger busy over his meal; every few moments he raised his head and paused to listen for the sound of approaching footsteps, but so cautiously did the hunter proceed that he was not heard.
"He managed to get within ten yards of the ferocious beast, and then by a well-directed shot stretched him on the ground. The fame he obtained for his prowess, and the money from the sale of the skin to the museum, compensated him for the loss of the horse, but it must be remembered that he ran a great risk in searching for the tiger as he did.
BEARCOOTS AND WOLVES.
"There were in the museum some fine specimens (stuffed) of the bearcoot, an enormous eagle of the Altai Mountains. It is considerably larger than the American eagle, and strong enough to kill easily a deer or a wolf. The Kirghese tame these eagles and employ them for hunting purposes, just as hawks were employed in England centuries ago. A bearcoot will swoop down upon a full-grown deer and kill him in a few minutes; a deer running at full speed can be overtaken by a bearcoot in a course of little more than a mile, when he has the advantage of fully a mile at the start.
"Sometimes when a pack of wolves has run down a deer and killed it, a pair of bearcoots will appear and take possession of the game. Two bearcoots are a match for a dozen wolves, and the latter acknowledge their inferiority by getting out of the way immediately.
"Some experiments on the power of the bearcoot to resist poison were made at Barnaool shortly before my visit. Half a grain of curara (deadly poison from Brazil) had no effect beyond increasing the bird's appetite. Four grains of strychnine caused his feathers to tremble fifteen minutes after swallowing the stuff, and five hours later threw him into convulsions from which he recovered next day. A week later seven grains of curara had no effect upon him for two days; then he went into convulsions, which lasted several hours and ended with his death.
