The name tiger, in the language of the Armenians, signifies an arrow, and aptly expresses the agility of those movements, by which these animals seize upon their prey. The sounds which they utter in this moment of seizure are stated to be the most hideous and appalling that ima gination can conceive. Animals of consi derable size are not only attacked by a tiger without the slightest hesitation, but give no impediment from their bulk to his carrying them off to some thicket, where he may enjoy, in unmolested soli tude, his feast of carnage. A man, or even a young buffalo, has been thus dis posed of by him with great facility, and after sucking the blood of his victims with the most intense application, he proceeds to tear them in pieces and devour them. Conflicts are reported by travellers not unfrequently to occur between the lion and the tiger, carried on with all that in trepidity and perseverance, with all that energy and fierceness, which might na turally be expected, and ending some times only in the complete destruction or mutilation of both. At Siam it is not unusual for elephants to 'be baited by a tiger, constituting a similar display of sa vage power and skill with what is afford ed in this country by a bull and dogs. Two elephants, well defended by artifi• cial guards on theieheads and great part of their trunks, are related, in one in stance, to have been introduced to the arena, where was a tiger tethered by cords : one of the elephants approaching it while under this extreme disadvantage, struck it several heavy blows on its back, and laid it motionless on the ground ; it was then untied, and soon afterwards, be ing considerably recovered, it bounded, with an immense spring and a most hi deous roar, at the trunk of its antagonist, who parried the attempt with astonishing adroitness, and, receiving the tiger on his tusks, hurled it into the air. The other elephant was at this time unfainl,y allowed to join his companion, and each inflicted several severe blows on their common enemy, who must have perish ed indeed, under their united efforts, if the fight had not been terminated at this crisis by the governor's command.— The boldness and vigour of the tiger were sufficiently displayed, however, and considering the restraints under which he laboured, and his continued combat, notwithstanding the first and almost fatal discomfiture, were truly admirable, It is recorded by Mr. Pennant, that, in the beginning of the last century as a British party in India were indulging themselves in rural recreation and festi vity, totally unsuspicious of danger, an immense tiger was seen advancing to wards them, and was so near as to be al most in the act to bound upon them. Dismay and consternation instantly per vaded every individual present but one, who was a lady, and who, a with prompt ness and self-possession probably never exceeded, furled a large umbrella in the face of the tiger, and thus most happily effected its retreat.
The catastrophe of Mr. Monro, in si milar circumstances, was recorded by one of his companions, and may be not im properly noticed in this connection. In the year 1792, several British gentlemen, together with Mr. Monro, went to shoot -deer on Sangar island, on the shores of which they observed innumerable traces of the feet of both these animals, not only of the deer, but of the tiger. They continued their sport, however, for a very considerable time ; and after com pleting it, were sitting down for refresh ment near a jungle,'when a tiger, with a most horrible roar, darted from the jun gle, and seizing on Mr. Monro, hurried back with him to the thicket, dragging Lim through the thickest bushes with a mazing rapidity, and making every thing bend and yield to its prodigious strength. A tigress accompanied it in its progress. The tiger was fired at by the two remain ing gentlemen, and was obliged to drop its prey ; and in a few moments after wards, their unfortunate friend was ad vancing towards them weltering in hii blood. He had received, however, such deep wounds from the teeth and claws of the tiger, as precluded the possibility of recovery, and after twenty-four hours of agony, he expired. The scene was
dreadful beyond all the expression of words. At the time of the assault, an immense fire of i,iveral whole trees was burning, by the spot, and shortly after their departure from these fatal shores the gentlemen observed the tigress to make her reappearance, in all the agita tion of unbounded fierceness and dis appointed vengeance. The tigress pro duces but one litter, consisting generally of five young in a year. In her defence of these, that fury, which, even in ordina ry times, seems to mark her character, is wrought up to a paroxysm, in which she defies all danger, and exposes herself frequently to certain destruction. Set Mammalia, Plate XIV. fig. 3.
F. pardus, the panther. It was for some time a question, whether the pan ther were not to be found in the new as well as in the old world ; it is now, how ever, fully ascertained not to belong to America. It is found in Africa, from the coast of Barbary to the south of Guinea, in the last of which it is found in considerable numbers. Its length is about six feet and a half without the tail, which generally measures three ; its colour is a bright tawny yellow, thickly studded along the upper part of its body, with circles of black spots containing a single spot in the centre. It is extremely ferocious, and its depredations in Africa resemble those of the tiger in Asia ; though the panther, in deed, abstains, unless when urged by ex treme hunger, from attack on man. Its mode of•attack is always by surprise, and bursting from the thicket with an im mense spring, or approaching with ex treme silence and caution on its belly, it lights instantly upon its prey, and the mo ment of alarm is made by it, frequently, the moment of destruction. In China, where the skins of beautiful and brilliant quadrupeds are in high estimation, there is a variety of this species, the skin of which is sold for about six guineas. The num ber of panthers imported by the rich and ambitious among the Romans, to supply the popular sports of that city, is almost incredible ; four hundred and ten were exibibited by Augustus within only a few days, and the immense demands which were made on Africa, for this purpose, tended at length to render them procura ble, in the territory of Mauritinia, only with very great labour and expence. la that country they are at pres.iit rare, comparatively with what they must have been before those vast exportations; but farther to the south they are extremely numerous. See Mammalia, Plate XIV. fig. 2.
F. leopardus, or the leopard. This ani mal is principally distinguished from the preceding by its less lively yellow colour, its inferior size, and the closer arrange ment of the spots with which it is diver sified. Its manners are similar to those of the panther, and both inhabit the same territories. Among the vast herds of Lower Guinea they commit the most de structive havoc; and when they are im pelled by hunger, every creature s ex posed to their attack. They are often taken in fit-falls by the negroes, who highly value their flesh, which in appear ance, is not a little like that of veal ; their teeth are arranged in fanciful dispo sitions by the women of the country, and hung about their necks and arms, both as amulets and ornaments ; and their skins are exported to various parts of Europe, where they are particularly admired, and are sold for corresponding prices. There is in India a variety of this species trained with great success to hunt the antelope and other beasts. It is conveyed in a small vehicle to the spot of its intended exertions, and chained and hooded till it is let down as near to the herd as is thought convenient ; it then makes every effort to reach them unobserved, advanc ing with extreme vigilance and caution, and when it perceives itself in a proper situation, it rushes with a succession of amazing bounds, five or six in number, towards its destined object, and is almost uniformly successful in securing it. On failure it returns to its owner, and after a short interval recommences its efforts. See Mammalia, Plate XIV. fig. 1.