The Tiger is as high on the limbs as the Lion; but it is more slender,
active, and stealthy, closely resembling, in figure and movements, the
domestic Cat, which serves as the type of the entire genus. Its coat is
very handsome, being of a yellowish fawn color above and a pure white
beneath; everywhere irregularly striped by brown transverse bands. Its
tail, which is very long, is ringed with black, and contributes not a
little to its beauty. It has also white around the eyes, on the jaws,
and on the back of each ear.
The Tiger is peculiar to Asia. It inhabits Java, Sumatra, a great part
of Hindostan, China, and even Southern Siberia as far north as the banks
of the river Obi.
The Tiger makes its lair in jungles or densely wooded districts
bordering on water-courses. Like the Lion, it has a den, to which it
retires for rest; from whence it steals forth, secretes itself in a wood
on the borders of a frequented path, and there, concealed from every
eye, awaits its victim. The moment it sees the object of its desire, its
eyes flash, and its whole bearing manifests a savage joy; it allows the
unsuspecting prey to draw near, and when it is sufficiently close,
springs upon it with tremendous velocity. If it scents prey from a
distance, it glides through the high grass with the undulating movements
of the serpent, almost impossible to be detected by the human eye.
The Tiger has for a long time borne a reputation for cruelty, as little
deserved as that for generosity which has been given the Lion. The old
Naturalists pretended that the Tiger gloried in shedding blood, and that
it never saw a living creature without desiring to destroy it. Nothing
can be more untrue. The Tiger does not kill for the pleasure of killing;
it kills only to appease its hunger. In doing this, it only conforms to
the necessities of its nature; but when it has fed, it does not exhibit
any blood-thirsty propensity, but simply defends itself when threatened
or attacked.
Tigers will occasionally take to water. In the Sunderbunds especially
they are often seen swimming across the various rivers, which form
innumerable islands, inhabited only by wild beasts. Invariably, the
fore-paw is the Tiger’s instrument of destruction. Most people imagine
that if a Tiger were deprived of his claws and teeth he would be
rendered harmless; but this is an error; the weight of the limb is the
real cause of the mischief, for the claws are rarely extended. When the
Tiger strikes his victim, the operation is similar to that of a hammer,
the Tiger raising his paw and bringing it down with such force as not
only to stun a common-sized Bullock, but often to crush the bones of the
skull!
Williamson gives an amusing account of the mode by which Tigers are
captured in Oude: “The track of the Tiger being ascertained, which,
though not invariably the same, may yet be sufficiently known for the
purpose, the peasants collect a quantity of the leaves of the prouss,
which are like those of the sycamore, and are common in most underwoods,
as they form the larger portion of most of the jungles of India. These
leaves are smeared with a species of bird-lime, made by bruising the
berries of an indigenous tree; they are then strewed, with the gluten
uppermost, near to that shady spot to which it is understood the Tiger
usually resorts during the noontide heats.
“If by chance the animal should tread on one of the smeared leaves, his
fate may be considered as decided. He commences by shaking his paw, with
the view to removing the adhesive incumbrance, but finding no relief
from that expedient, he rubs the nuisance against his face with the same
intention, by which means his eyes, ears, &c., become sticky, and cause
such uneasiness as occasions him to roll perhaps among many more of the
smeared leaves, till at length he becomes completely enveloped, and is
deprived of sight. In this situation he may be compared to a man who has
been tarred and feathered. The anxiety produced by this strange and
novel predicament soon shows itself in dreadful howlings, which serve to
call the watchful peasants, who in this state find no difficulty in
shooting the mottled object of their detestation.”