received from my son, Mr. Fred. Palmer, a tea planter in Sylhet, Bengal. After writing a short account of a day's sport with snipe and jungle fowl, he adds: 'Now, I'll tell you a funny thing which happened about 150 yards from my bungalow. A very large tiger had a fight with a wild pig, and which do you think won. Why, the pig. The tiger was found dead, lying in the tea garden, with wounds all over him, ribs broken, and a severe gash across the shoulder. I have the skull in my bungalow.' I am sorry I have no particulars of the fight, but trust to obtain a more detailed account. It must have been a very exciting set-to, and the result-the victory of the wild boar-one that most pig-stickers,' I think, would expect. It would be very interesting to collect instances of combats between tigers and other game animals, and the results. The only instance I am acquainted with of a tiger and wild boar fight, other than the above, is given by my friend, Mr. R. Sterndale, in one of his graphic and interesting sporting works. Mr. Sterndale, when out camping, came up to the battle-field of a tiger and boar. The former was killed, and his carcase was found still warm, and terribly cut about by the pig. I believe, if we could collect further reliable instances of such fights, we should find the fine old Bengal wild boar always victor, and retaining his proud place as the pluckiest animal on four feet, and, perhaps, the quickest striker. I think there is an account given by Old Shekarry' of a prolonged fight between a tiger and a wild buffalo, resulting in a drawn battle, not to be renewed, as both died in their last charge.-C. P."

Why lions and tigers cannot, or, at all events, do not climb, is not easily accounted for. Their great weight, it may be said, would preclude them from doing so (but, on the other hand, the jaguar, which is quite as heavy as many tigers, climbs with the utmost facility), and their strength is far greater in proportion to their weight than that of the smaller cats. Quite recently I saw a lioness in the Zoological Gardens spring from the ground and hang by her fore paws for several seconds to a transverse bough of the tree trunks erected in the open-air

playground, with her hinder toes at least three feet from the flooring. Possibly these two species have lost the climbing habit by feeding solely on terrestrial game; while the jaguar and leopard, which do not disdain such small fare as monkeys and sloths, have retained it. So far as their structure is concerned, lions and tigers ought to be as well able to climb as any of their smaller congeners; it is, at least, fortunate that they do not, for a tree is a secure refuge for a man on the lookout, or for an imperilled hunter in time of need.

So many graphic descriptions of tiger hunting have been published that little can be added to them. The following incident, however, narrated to me by an eye-witness, may be worth recording. While a party were beating up a tiger in rather thin jungle among broken ground, one of the sportsmen descended into a dry nullah, and was climbing the opposite bank, when instantly the beast appeared, and, springing over the man's head, smashed his skull with a blow of the paw in passing. It is just possible that old tiger killers may see events distorted by the mirage of imagination when they come to tell their stories over a glass of grog after a day spent in the pursuit of the gentle woodcock or snipe; for human nature is apt to err on the side of bigness when animals of a really dangerous nature are under discussion. Some of these, I confess, have been too big for me, and those it is needless to inflict upon the reader; but others may be accepted without any great tax upon our credulity.

A very curious incident happened to an officer of my acquaintance when pushing his way through a patch of dense jungle where it was not suspected that a tiger was hidden. Without the least warning of its approach, he saw a momentary flash of yellow and black, and knew nothing more until he recovered consciousness, and found himself lying bruised and in great pain and unable to get on his feet. Raising himself with diffculty on his elbow, and striving to comprehend the situation, he found no blood about him, and felt nothing in the nature of a wound beyond a severe bruise on his head. After some

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considerable time he was able to stand, and on looking for his rifle saw it lying four or five yards from him. The tiger, it seemed, having been roused by the beaters, and, bounding off in his fright, dashed against the man with his whole force and stunned him. None of the beaters had seen anything of it, and his brother officers could hardly believe their comrade's story of this singular collision with a tiger, the effects of which he felt for several days.

According to accounts I have heard from those who ought to be able to judge, a tiger can make a spring of 30ft. from his crouching position. Few animals except the elephant would be able to resist some 400lb. weight hurled such a distance, and it is really wonderful that any man who has been in the clutches of one of these brutes should ever escape with his life. One of those who had got off with very slight injury, told me that a wounded tiger charged him, and was content with merely leaving the marks of his claws on his thigh: but he has a most vivid recollection of his sensations when those huge tenter hooks were driven into his flesh. The tiger, finding no resistance was offered, thought it was not worth while to stay to maul him, and went off without doing further damage. This act of forbearance was probably dictated by the approach of the beaters.

Though on the whole more courageous than the lion, the tiger is usually a skulking brute, especially in the presence of man. His attacks on the buffalo, however, in which the bulls at times severely wound him, must be placed to his credit, and three or four tigers have been known to drive the inhabitants out of a village by their frequent attacks on the cattle and the occasional seizure of a human being, until the Englishman's rifle has been called in to put an end to the terrorism. In the agricultural districts of Mysore the tigers have become so emboldened by the timidity of the people, that they have been known to chase men in the open. The native methods of destroying them can do little to keep down their numbers, traps of every kind being most uncertain with so wily and powerful a brute. Netting is practised with considerable success in some

Netting Tigers in Mysore.

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parts of Mysore. The nets, 50ft. long by 15ft. deep, are made of in. rope with a 9in. mesh, supported vertically on light poles, which fall and entangle the animals running against the net during the progress of a drive, when the natives run in and spear the game. A number of nets thus placed in contact are made to enclose a considerable space where a tiger is known to be lying, meanwhile he is prevented from breaking by the beaters making a sufficient noise all round his lair to convince him that he is surrounded by enemies, but not enough to frighten him into bolting. The net is propped up on forked poles 10ft. high, the slack at the bottom being passed under heavy logs or stones, and pinned with sticks to the upright portion, forming a loose bag, securely pegged to the earth.

Picked men now enter the inclosure and cut a wide path through the cover in order that the tiger may be shot in crossing it, while men placed in trees signal his movements to the sportsmen. Whenever he appears at the net in hesitation as to what to do, he is assailed with shouts and driven back, or if he attempts to break through a volley of spears may cripple or kill him. Two or three days may elapse before the inclosure is considered secure, and the strong top and bottom ropes fastened to trees. Against such a barrier the tiger is practically powerless, for it gives no hold for an attempt to break through, it puzzles the beast mightily, and may at any moment entangle him fatally. Confined in a small space, without food, or water, unable to sneak off at night in the glare of the fires lighted at short intervals all round the net, and bewildered by the ceaseless din on every side, the imprisoned beast usually becomes quite cowed. Therefore it is not so dangerous a task as might be imagined for the beaters to go in and hunt him repeatedly across the clearing to give the sportsman a chance, unless he is badly wounded and believed to be dead, when he is likely to charge at any moment. Leopards frequently jump over the net, but this never occurs with the tiger, though it would seem easy for him to clear the small height of 10ft. Very lively scenes take place when the beaters

are bustling the imprisoned tiger about, and he endeavours to break through their ranks, or turns from the levelled spear points. At these times he will lie in a thick patch of jungle invisible to his enemies, uttering resounding growls, but still reluctant to begin hostilities, while all the available forces of the party is summoned to the spot to put an ignominious end to the "Royal" tiger, whose dead carcase becomes a butt for the scorn and rage of his destroyers.

The prodigious destruction of animal and human life in India is not a little owing to the reluctance on superstitious grounds of a large section of the natives to destroy these carnivorous pests, under the belief that the malevolent spirit of the animal will haunt and persecute them, the name of the tiger being mentioned often with bated breath; but there is no objection to a European performing the part of executioner. Certain portions of the body, such as the heart, liver, fat, and some of the flesh, are credited with supernatural powers, and carefully preserved, the vibrissæ being particularly in request for the purpose of surreptitiously mixing with the food of an obnoxious person, under the absurd impression that these hairs are slow but certain poison. The claws and fangs are also valued as trophies; and it is nearly impossible to prevent the natives from stealing them.

Much discussion has taken place on the question as to the exact manner in which the tiger kills its prey. Some assert that it is done by biting through the vertebræ of the neck, others that the head of the victim is violently wrenched backwards, and the neck broken. The alleged smashing of the skull of a buffalo or ox by a blow of the paw is perhaps apocryphal. The brain case of bovine animals is quite small in relation to the face, and well protected by strong bone, and not an easy thing to break into with a bullet driven by a heavy charge. They probably kill how they can, by tearing out the vital parts or lacerating the large blood vessels-for instance, the carotids in the neck-just in what ever way is most convenient at the moment. The operation is, of course, only seen when the victim is a living bait tied up to entice a tiger within gun shot.