The above-mentioned _Puli_, or Malabar tyger, is often so bold as to enter the towns and villages. One day, in the year 1786, while I was in the church at _Vaypur_ employed in examining the overseer’s accounts, a _Puli_ entered the village at noon, and, in the sight of more than 200 persons, carried off a dog which was running about in the street, not fifteen paces from the church. After that period the people of _Vaypur_ always took care to shut their houses at the time they were repeating the _Ave Maria_; but with trelliced doors, in order to admit the light. At _Badagare_, one of these _Pulis_ took from the stall a calf belonging to the _Cassanar_, while I was sitting with him in his apartment. We, however, pursued the animal with muskets; but were not able to overtake him, for he had seized the calf by the throat, and, having strangled it, dragged it away with him, and soon disappeared. Some of these animals frequently paid me a visit at _Magnapre_, during the time of _Ave Maria_. The Christian women were generally the first who perceived them from their houses, and on such occasions they immediately ran into the streets, crying out: _Acia, patti vannu, patti vannu!_ that is, Sir, the dog is there, the dog is there! This dog, however, was always a tyger, to which the common people give that appellation. The animal called by Pliny a panther, by Zimmermann an ounce, and by Linnæus a leopard, has a white skin covered with black spots; but neither the Malabar leopard nor the panther is ever seen in the Gauts. Those who wish to destroy a tyger conceal themselves by night on the top of some tree, near a pond or ditch where the animal is accustomed to drink, and in that manner shoot him. The skin is given to the king, and the hunter always obtains a reward from the inhabitants of the district[122]. The flying cat I have several times seen in India, particularly at _Vaypur_, _Puttenpalli_, and _Mohatushe_. It is properly a kind of squirrel, but as large as a cat. It has two cartilaginous wings like the bat, and a large thick tail, which, in its flight, it uses by way of a rudder. Its hair is exceedingly fine, and of a silver colour. It is generally seen on the _Mava_ tree, the fruit of which serves it as food[123]. Another animal, of a kind totally different, is the Malabar _Marapatti_, which the naturalists call Serval. It lives also on trees, but cannot fly like the former, and feeds only on the coco-nut. It is a sort of polecat, which destroys poultry, and sucks their eggs. It is also a mortal enemy to serpents; and its flesh has an offensive smell[124].