Killing a Man-Eater.

17

Some years ago my friend, Mr. E. H. Pringle, of the engineering department, was waited on by a deputation of villagers, with a request to kill a man-eating tigress, which had carried off five grown persons and a child of about ten years old. He repaired to the village a few days afterwards, with his own syce, fully prepared for action, and learned that since their visit to him an old woman had disappeared, and was believed to have been taken by the tiger, as bloody and tattered portions of her clothing had been found in the jungle. He ordered the mechan, or platform, to be built in a tree, about thirty yards from an open glade, and just before dusk an old cow was securely tethered in the open space, and he mounted his perch to wait for the tiger. The spot, almost surrounded by thick cover, would give the tiger every opportunity of approaching without fear of detection, and much to the watcher's satisfaction the cow bellowed at frequent intervals, bemoaning her captivity to her companions at no great distance in the village. Twilight passed, and the moon rose, sending its beams across the glade, and full on the open space where the old cow stood unconsciously calling her enemy to supper. Hour after hour passed without result, but the watcher had determined to keep at his post until daylight, and lose no chance of bagging the man-eater.

Sitting motionless and attentive, with his large-bore double rifle nicely balanced on a fork of the tree, and levelled straight at the cow, the chances were against the escape of the tiger should it appear. But his syce, sitting behind him with the spare rifle, every now and then gave evidence by a snort of having passed into the land where tigers trouble only in dreams. More than once the fellow made so much noise, in spite of whispered threats of punishment on the morrow, that the tiger must have been alarmed had it passed near the tree. The night was getting old, and the moonlight passing away from the glade, when, suddenly, a tiger bounded noiselessly from cover, and crouched right in front of the cow.

Then followed a scene which must, of necessity, lose in the telling-told, as it is, too, at secondhand. The tiger, in no hurry

C

for supper, dashed at the affrighted cow, and stopped short, then gambolled round it like a kitten at play, jumping over its back, and enjoying the struggles of the poor beast to break from its tether. The cow repeatedly put down her head to charge so far as her tether would allow, but the tiger slipped out of the

way like a snake. The object of all this maundering soon became apparent. Two large cubs sneaked out of the jungle to their mother to learn a lesson in the art and mystery of cow killing. For many minutes more the tigress continued enacting the comedy which was to end in a tragedy for the benefit of the little monsters, who, doubtless, but a few nights since had feasted on human flesh. During the whole time her active movements had rendered a successful shot impossible, otherwise my friend would have endeavoured to save the life of the cow; but this was impracticable if the tigress was to be bagged.

Satisfied, apparently, with her amusement and the instruction afforded to her young, the tigress suddenly crouched and sprang upon the shoulder of the cow, bringing her to the ground, and after a few minutes of desperate struggling the poor beast ceased to move. The tigress then quietly sat down contemplating her victim, with her back to the tree in which the watchers were posted. Here was the opportunity so long waited for, and in another instant a large spherical ball went crashing through her back. The tigress spun round like a teetotum, and fell a few yards from the cow, but almost immediately rose again and offered a broadside target, when another bullet stretched her out dead. The cubs had disappeared into the jungle at the first shot.

No sign of life appearing in the tigress, my friend descended from the tree and examined the scene of slaughter. The cow was frightfully mauled both by teeth and claws, the throat torn open, the windpipe penetrated, and the blood vessels of the neck bitten through. On moving the head in different directions it became evident that there was no dislocation of the vertebræ ; all the work had been done by laceration of the throat and neck, from which the blood had flowed as freely as if a butcher had

A Party of Man-Eaters.

19

been at work. An examination of the tiger showed the penetration of one bullet near the spine, passing out through the ribs, while the other had entered the chest under the shoulder. Although not a large specimen, she was splendidly developed and evidently very powerful. One of the upper canines, which now forms the handle of a paper knife lying on my writing table, which I regard with no little satisfaction as a memento of the destruction of the murderous brute, measures only 2 in. from the point, along the outer curve, to the termination of the enamel-that is to say, the portion clear of the socket-while the largest of the fore claws, measured in the same way, is 2ĝin. The condition of the fangs indicates an animal in the prime of life, or even, possibly, not yet fully grown, and disposes of the general impression that only old individuals among the felidæ contract the abominable habit of preying upon human beings.

Man-eaters cannot be considered common, but if left long to their horrible taste they become so addicted to it that no other game seems to possess the same relish for them; and it has the advantage. of being easily secured where the natives are timid, and practically incapable of resistance. The worst case I can find is that of the six man-eaters which infested the jungle and road between Ranebi and Hazareebagh, in the years 1875 and 1876, and established a reign of terror which brought about the desertion of several villages, and closed many of the roads. Within the first three months of 1876 it is alleged that they carried off ninety-seven people of all ages! One would suspect this to have been a family party of tigers, consisting, perhaps, of the parents and four young, which had been brought up to the vicious practice by their mother while suckling them, and teaching them to cater for themselves. The natives in vain endeavoured to destroy the pests by all sorts of devices, until Baboo Bampersad Narain Singh volunteered to come to their relief. After six months' work, in 1877, he managed to bag them all, killing two and catching the rest alive, for which service he was presented by the Bengal Government with its thanks, and in addition a first class double rifle and shot gun.

A plea has been advanced for the tiger, on the ground that he keeps in check the numerous herbivorous animals which, it is said, would otherwise render cultivation almost impossible by their numbers. This is evidently the argument of a tiger preserver. In the first place, the tiger will not trouble himself to catch wild game so long as he can fall upon tame cattle. In the second, herbivorous animals are comparatively easily destroyed in large numbers by driving, and without the smallest danger; while a tiger may evade the utmost efforts of a party of men for a month, and very probably injure or kill one of them before he is settled.

Moreover, the wild species of Bos are, to all intents and purposes, exempt from his attacks, with the exception of the rare instances when he can separate a calf from the herd. The enemies to cultivation, then, which he can control, are resolved into hogs and deer, animals easily destroyed by proper methods. The superstitions of the natives greatly contribute to the increase of tigers in districts beyond the usual range of British sportsmen. Had a Teutonic peasantry inhabited India it may be safely affirmed that they would not have submitted to the dominion of the tiger, but would rather have gloried in contests with the savage brute, while their bards and minstrels would have sung the heroic deeds of the boldest hunstmen. Superstition of some kind prevails wherever the tiger has its habitat.

Sir Stamford Raffles describes this feeling in Sumatra: "One of the villagers in the neighbourhood of Bencoolen told me that his father and grandfather were carried off by tigers; and there is scarcely a family that has not lost some of its members by them. In many places the inhabitants appear to have resigned dominion to the tigers, and take few precautions against them, regarding them as sacred.. The natives hold the migration of souls, and call the tiger their nene, or grandfather, upon the supposition that the souls of their ancestors are dwelling in the tigers! On the banks of one of the rivers above 100 persons were devoured in a single year. When the tigers enter a village the people prepare rice and fruits, and place

Ravages of the Tiger.

21

them at the entrance, supposing that the tigers will be pleased with this hospitable reception, and pass on without doing them any harm."

Many of the foregoing facts leave no doubt of the greater ferocity and courage of the tiger as compared with the lion. There can be equally little question of his greater strength, which has been shown by Houghton to be only 69.9 per cent. for the fore limb, and 65.9 per cent. for the hind limb in the lion, of the total in the corresponding limb in the tiger. The same authority states that five men can easily hold down a lion, whereas nine are required to control a tiger. To this may be added the testimony of Martial, from actual observation of the contests in the arenas, where the tigers always killed their antagonists, the lions.

One of the greatest living authorities on the subject, Sir Joseph Fayrer, who will have nothing to do with the tiger preserver's plea, has devoted much consideration to the best means of exterminating the carnivora as well as reptiles, and has urged the Government of India to take up the work systematically, in the firm conviction that the agricultural interests of the country imperatively demand relief from this heavy tax on human and animal life. Should there be any doubt about the necessity for this, we have only to turn to the official reports issued from time to time, which, however, fall far short of the actual figures, since it is impossible to induce the natives to supply full information. In 1881, the number of wild animals destroyed was 15,279, of which 10,483 were carnivora, 1557 being tigers. The loss of human life was 1459, of which the large number of 889 was due to tigers. The destruction of domestic animals by carnivora is probably not less than 40,000 annually. A reward of from 10 to 50 rupees, according to circumstances, for the head of a tiger, then, would be as good an investment as it would be possible to make in the interests of the agricultural classes, even were their property alone taken into consideration. Before many years have elapsed, in all probability there will be established throughout the whole country an organised system,