“It should be observed, that for the most part the Tiger chooses his station on that side of the road which is opposite to his haunt; so that, when he seizes his prey, he proceeds straight forward, without having occasion to turn, and thus drags it across mostly at a trot. If he misses his aim, he will rarely return, unless attacked; but, in a sullen manner, either skulks through the cover; or, if the country be not sufficiently close to conceal his motions, he moves on at a canter.”
[19]
E. Landseer delt. T. Landseer sculpt.
Tiger & Indian Bullock after Nature.
[20]
E. Spilsbury delt. T. Landseer sculpt.
Senegal Lion after Reydinger.
Black-maned Lion after Rembrandt.
Lioness after Reydinger.
Finding the same anecdotes of Lions and Tigers repeated from book to book, the present writer has in general avoided to reiterate what he conceived would in most instances prove to have been already read: but he cannot wholly pass that in which a lady—next to the Royal Tiger himself—was the principal figure; more especially as it illustrates a fact of natural history not useless for Oriental travellers to be acquainted with—namely, the susceptibility of the Tiger of sudden alarm.
Some ladies and gentlemen being on a party of pleasure, under a shade of trees on the banks of a river in Bengal, were suddenly surprised at seeing a Tiger ready to make its fatal spring. One of the ladies, with amazing presence of mind, laid hold of an umbrella, and unfurling it directly in the animal’s face, it instantly retired.