Mrs. Loudon's Entertaining Naturalist: Being popular descriptions, tales, and anecdotes of more than Five Hundred Animals. — John Shaqi
Mrs. Loudon's Entertaining Naturalist: Being popular descriptions, tales, and anecdotes of more than Five Hundred Animals.Loudon, Mrs. (Jane)
General
Mrs. Loudon's Entertaining Naturalist: Being popular descriptions, tales, and anecdotes of more than Five Hundred Animals.
Loudon, Mrs. (Jane)
Animals -- Juvenile literature; Zoology -- Juvenile literature
The Tiger has a smaller and rounder head than the lion; he has no mane;
his tail is without any tuft at the extremity, and his body much more
slender and flexible. His colour is yellowish on the back and sides,
becoming white beneath, with numerous lines of a very dark rich brown,
or glossy black, sloping from the centre of the back down the sides, and
over the head, and continued down the tail in the form of rings. Tigers
are only found wild in Asia; but they are very abundant and very
destructive in the East Indies, as from their enormous strength they can
carry off a bullock with the greatest ease.
The attack of one of these animals upon Mr. Monro, son of Sir Hector
Monro, was attended with the most tragical consequences. “We went,” says
an eye-witness, “on shore on Sawgar Island, to shoot deer, of which we
saw innumerable tracks, as well as of Tigers. We continued our diversion
till near three o’clock, when sitting down by the side of a jungle to
refresh ourselves, a roar like thunder was heard, and an immense Tiger
seized our unfortunate friend, and rushed again into the jungle,
dragging him through the thickest bushes and trees, everything giving
way to his monstrous strength. All we could do was to fire on the Tiger;
and our shots took effect, as in a few moments our unfortunate friend
came up to us bathed in blood. Every medical assistance was vain, and he
expired in the space of twenty-four hours, having received such deep
wounds from the teeth and claws of the animal as rendered his recovery
hopeless. A large fire, consisting of ten or twelve whole trees, was
blazing near us at the time this accident took place; and ten or more of
the natives were with us. The human mind can scarcely form any idea of
this scene of horror.”
Tiger-hunting, though very dangerous, is a very favourite sport in
India. The hunters are mounted in carriages called howdahs, on the backs
of elephants, well armed. The first indication is generally given by the
elephants, who scent their enemy at some distance, and commencing a
peculiar kind of snorting, become greatly agitated. As soon as the
motion of the Tiger through the jungle is perceived, the nearest
elephant is halted, and the hunter fires instantly. Should the Tiger be
wounded, he will, in all probability, spring up with a hideous roar, and
rush at the nearest elephant, his mouth open, his tail erect, or lashing
his sides, and his whole fur bristled up. Sometimes, however, he
endeavours to sneak away, artfully diminishing his size by drawing in
his breath and creeping along the ground, and often with such success
as to enable him to escape to ravines where it would be madness to
attempt pursuit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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