Chapter XI: Indian Shooting (2)

If a tiger is killing near camp, there is a good deal of sport to be had by going round the baits in the morning oneself. If one of them is taken, a wide circuit should be made round the cover with a good tracker to ensure the tiger being at home. An inner circuit may be then made to determine his approximate position, and to do this well without disturbing him requires great care and skill; but the knowledge so gained is invaluable in beating for him afterwards.

In Bombay and Madras elephants are not generally used, and, instead of the square cushions to sit on, light bamboo ladders are carried and set up against trees or clumps of bamboo where cushions could not be slung, the top of the ladder being lashed to the tree or bush, and the sportsman seating himself on one of the rungs. Many sportsmen praise these highly, as being easier to erect and giving more choice of position; but, on the other hand, they entail an extra man to accompany the sportsman to his tree, and are more conspicuous. Accidents of course happen equally to both; men have been taken out of their cushions, and ladders have been upset. The district in which the sportsman has received his training usually decides his choice of gear. The want of elephants, however, in Bombay and Madras obliges the guns to follow up their wounded tigers on foot. The orthodox procedure is to form a picked force of beaters and shikaris into a solid triangle, the apex and flanks being formed by the guns. Every man should provide himself before starting with all the stones he can carry; the wounded tiger is generally given a considerable time to stiffen--two hours if they can be spared may well be spent thus. The trail is then followed at a slow pace, every bush being well stoned before it is approached, far more passed; at every tree the party is halted and a man sent up to look, and if a tracker is necessary, he moves close under the guns of the two sportsmen who form the apex. If the natives can only be persuaded to keep together, with cool guns and fairly open ground like the bamboo jungles of Southern India, there is no excessive danger; but the writer’s experience of the work was that for the first hundred yards the men kept together pretty well, but would go too fast; then they became careless, and as the danger really increased began to straggle. Being single-handed, though there was another party working parallel to him at about fifty yards distance, the writer was unable to keep his men in order, and by the time the tiger was found, luckily dead, by the other party, his followers were all over the place.

The subjoined account by Captain Lamb gives a good idea of what may be expected to take place without trained men:

As soon as the beaters came up we [Major Mansel and himself] had
awful trouble to prevent them scattering about in the jungle.
We waited about twenty minutes, and then started to follow the
tiger up. We took twenty men and formed them four deep, close up
and shoulder to shoulder, M. and I going in front. We impressed
upon the men that they were on no account to leave the square,
and sent two men on each flank up trees to examine the ground
in front. We could easily track the tiger by his blood, and in
one place found what looked like a piece of his liver. We knew
he could not go far, especially as he was full of cow. Some of
the men began to wander a little, and we had to abuse them to
make them keep their places. The trail led us through dry grass
up to our knees, but not very thick, and growing under scattered
young trees. After going about two hundred yards we heard the
tiger growling, but he must have moved on. We could still follow
him by his blood. Another hundred yards, and we could hear him
distinctly. The square began to break, and several men started
shinning up trees; M. shouted ‘Look out,’ and the words were
not out of his mouth when the tiger came, his tail up, his mane
on end, at a gallop, roaring and making straight for us. He was
about twenty yards off when he first came out, and looked an
awful devil, being almost black from rolling in the ashes where
the jungle had been burnt. M. fired at him when he was about
ten yards off, and he swerved a little to his right, passing M.
within five yards. I was on M.’s right and could not fire before,
but as the tiger passed I turned and fired behind M.’s back;
there was a cloud of dust, and at first we only heard a thud, and
could not see whether the tiger had gone on or not; as the dust
cleared, we saw him lying stone-dead. It was a very lucky shot
through the neck, as by this time the square was in full retreat,
the men scattering all about and falling over each other. The
front rank and part of the second alone stood firm, so if the
tiger had gone on he would certainly have mauled one or two of
the natives. He measured 9 ft. 9 ins. as he lay.

The worst part of getting a native hurt is, that though it almost invariably happens through his own wilful disobedience of orders, the news spreads like wildfire through the district, and makes it very hard for the party to procure beaters. Rustum Ali, the villagers argue, was a brave man; he didn’t fear tigers, we have seen him throw stones at tigers, and he went out with those sahibs and got killed--the said Rustum having met with his death by getting out of his tree and going to get a drink of water while the guns were following up a wounded tiger, or some equally nonsensical breach of orders. Accidents of course do happen, even when all precautions are observed, but the majority of them are occasioned by the natives’ own carelessness.

Natives are often very unwilling to give information about tigers, partly from fear of being turned out to beat, and partly from the universal idea that the tiger, if he escapes, or his mate, if he is killed, will take vengeance on them. They often also consider it unlucky to mention his name, and talk of him as a jackal, precisely as in Sweden a bear is never talked of as such.

Sitting up for a tiger over a kill or bait is the least amusing and least certain of any method of hunting him, but often in large forests which cannot be beaten, or where the sportsman is single-handed and without elephants, it is the only way to get a shot.

The erection of the platform, or ‘machan,’ too frequently disturbs the tiger and drives him away. If the sportsman can procure baits, a good plan is to select a good place for a machan before tying up; tether lightly so that the tiger may drag the carcase away. Make the machan when the first bait is taken, tie up again till he kills again in the same place, and about three days after the second kill tie up again and sit over it. The best machan is a cot with low rails round the edge, fitted with ropes to sling it in a tree. The sportsman’s blankets and pillows can be spread in it, he himself can lie comfortably at full length watching the bait or kill, there are no sticks to crackle and make a noise; and when the moon goes down or he has had his shot, he can turn round and sleep as one only sleeps in the open. The sportsman should be at his post by four o’clock in the afternoon, as if the tiger means coming he will probably come early. Sanderson says he enjoys the sport; it’s pleasant enough if the tiger comes soon, but if he puts off his visit to 3 A.M., as happened to the writer, who was at that hour peacefully sleeping and never woke up, the entertainment is mediocre. Allowing a native to perch on the same tree is ruination to sport: cough he must; besides, the jungle man is unsavoury, and the evening air seems to make him smell worse than usual. If a kill is found in the jungle and the sportsman decides to sit over it, General Macintyre’s plan is worth trying; i.e. take some men up to the tree, let them talk loudly, or shout while the machan is being prepared, and then retire talking or shouting, according as the tiger is supposed to be bold or timid. He will very likely come at once, as their voices die away, not to eat, but to see if they have removed the kill. This often succeeds where professional skinners are in the habit of saving what they can of the hides of kills. Lieutenant-Colonel Fife Cookson, in his book ‘Tiger Shooting in the Doon and Ulwar,’ gives a curious account of a tiger stalking a bait:

Suddenly there emerged from underneath the trees a
brownish-yellow object which appeared about the size of a monkey,
and for a moment, in the failing light, I thought it was one. It
darted rapidly along the bare ground for about twenty yards at a
time, moving towards the bullock, and stopping at the end of each
run behind one of the tufts of grass about two feet high, over
which it peeped, then sinking down again and gliding forward as
before. It was now nearer, and by this time I could see that it
was not one of the monkeys; but still I could not clearly make
out what it was. It reminded me of a very ugly, large, yellow
and black mask at a pantomime. I could see no legs or body.
Now it reached a tuft about forty yards from me, over which it
also peeped, staring intently at the bullock. By this time I
was convinced that it was the tiger, though it looked about the
size and shape of a horse’s head. The curious appearance which
the tiger had presented at a distance of about seventy yards,
in shape like the head of a horse with the chin touching the
ground, was no doubt owing to my seeing his forepaws underneath
and part of his back foreshortened over the top of his head. What
most particularly struck me was the small object which the tiger
appeared during the stalk. It must be remembered that, although I
perhaps saw a little of the back between his ears, I was looking
down upon him from a much higher level, and that if I had been
on the ground I should probably have seen nothing but his head.
Thus the tiger was evidently able to hide himself behind any tuft
of grass which was large enough to conceal his head. Another
remarkable thing was the position in which he held his head.
It was no longer in the usual attitude, with the nose in the
air, as when the animal is walking about; but the face was held
vertically, the chin being drawn in, and the forehead pressed
forward, thus displaying its black stripes and markings, together
with the intent stare of the large eyes. This greatly added to
its sinister appearance.

Williamson describes another variety of sitting up, the sportsman being enclosed in a strong bamboo cage and playing the part of bait himself, being armed with two or three spears:

Being accompanied by a dog, which gives the alarm, or by a goat,
which by its agitation answers the same purpose, the adventurer
wraps himself up in his quilt, and very composedly goes to sleep
in full confidence of his safety. When the tiger comes, and
perhaps after smelling all round begins to rear against the cage,
the man stabs him with one of the spears, through the interstices
of the wickerwork, and rarely fails at destroying the tiger.

The writer heard of an instance of this being tried by a European, with a cage made of iron. Unfortunately the bars were set too far apart, and the tiger got his paw through and slew that adventurer.

Williamson also narrates the old story--possibly it was taken from his book--of tigers being caught by covering leaves with birdlime; it was told him by a Mahommedan gentleman of the Court of the Nabob Vizier of Oude. Sanderson gives a capital account of tiger-netting, as practised in Mysore, and describes the various traps occasionally used by natives. The late Maharajah of Patiala, about 1872, had a tiger that had been trapped in the hills turned out on the plain outside the town, he and his guests being mounted on elephants. Of course the whole of the populace assembled to see the fun, forming a large circle round the plain. The tiger, on being released where there was not sufficient cover for a quail, selected as his point of exit the buggy of a native gentleman, who sought refuge between the wheels; his groom, being unfortunately in the way as the tiger cleared the conveyance, was knocked over, but luckily more frightened than hurt. The tiger then took refuge in a garden, pursued by the elephants. On their arrival at the spot the gardener was found placidly pursuing his avocation, and, on being asked if he had seen the beast, imprudently pointed him out. The tiger at once sprang on the man, upset him and bolted; but as he was now heading for the English doctor’s stables he was considered to be becoming dangerous, and was cleverly shot by the Maharajah.

Sanderson, in describing the way a tiger attacks and kills his prey, says that in attacking a bison his object is to get the latter to charge, and then, avoiding the rush, to follow on the instant and endeavour to emasculate the bull by striking him behind. In killing cattle he writes:

The general method is for the tiger to slink up under cover of
bushes or long grass, ahead of the cattle in the direction they
are feeding, and to make a rush at the first cow or bullock that
comes within five or six yards. The tiger does not _spring_
upon his prey in the manner usually represented. Clutching the
bullock’s fore-quarters with his paws, one being generally over
the shoulder, he seizes the throat in his jaws from underneath,
and turns it upwards and over, sometimes springing to the far
side in doing so, to throw the bullock over, and give the wrench
which dislocates its neck.

Sir S. Baker writes that while lions and cheetahs (_Felis jubata_) use their paws in striking down their prey at the moment of capture, tigers apparently never do. Sanderson points out that Forsyth, as also Captain Baldwin in his ‘Large and Small Game of Bengal,’ agree that tigers seize by the back of the neck, and then give the dislocating wrench. The writer noticed the fang-marks on a good many kills in Central India, and certainly they appeared from their position rather low down, apparently too much so to have been inflicted by a bite on the back of the neck--a tiger’s jaw is not very long--to entirely support Sanderson’s description. As regards a tiger’s powers of springing, Sanderson says he has often measured the bounds of tigers that have pursued deer, and found 15 ft. to be about the distance they usually spring.

The writer particularly noticed the way a tiger sprang at an elephant: he did not bound from a distance at all, but simply galloped up till he was just under the elephant’s ear-hole, and then sprang vertically upwards, placing his forepaws on the elephant’s head, and there he hung till the elephant shook him off. A tiger can with ease get his forepaws on to an object twelve to fifteen feet from the ground; but he seems clumsy in getting sufficient hold with his hind paws to enable him to proceed after his first spring. Sanderson says that tigresses do not breed at any fixed season. Sterndale states that they go with young for about fifteen weeks, and produce from two to five at a birth. Sanderson gives four as an unusually large number; the writer saw six taken out of a tigress, but probably these would not all have been born alive. He also saw a tigress with four cubs which must have been nearly a year old, one of them which was shot measuring 4 ft. 9 ins. Mr. Shillingford’s memorandum quoted by Sterndale is interesting:

Cubs one year old measure {Males 4½ ft. to 5½ ft.
{Females 4 ” 5 ”

” two years ” {Males 5½ ” 7 ”
{Females 5 ” 6½ ”

” three years ” {Males 7 ” 8½ ”
{Females 6½ ” 7½ ”

When they reach three years of age they lose their ‘milk canines,’ which are replaced by permanent fangs, and at this period the mother leaves them to cater for themselves, the tigress breeding once in three years.

Mr. Shillingford also notes that out of 53 cubs (18 mothers) 29 were males, and 22 females, the sex of two cubs not being given. This tends to prove that there are an equal number of each sex born,[19] the marked preponderance of adult tigresses over tigers being accounted for by most writers by the native story that the male tigers kill the young male cubs. The writer offers another suggestion: may not the young male tigers as soon as they leave their mothers avoid the domains of the heavy old cattle-lifters, and taking to the hills and forest form the game-killing class, till they are powerful enough to succeed to the estates of their sires, either by force or by inheritance, owing to their sire having met with an accident when entertaining a sahib, and so settle down and take wives? The writer has no proof to give in support of this suggestion, but merely offers it for sportsmen to consider. With respect to the common native story that the age of tigers may be told by the number of lobes in their livers, the writer made the following observations in Central India: Tigress, 6 lobes; tiger, 8 lobes; tigress, 7 lobes; cub (male), 6 lobes; male panther, 7 lobes; tigress, 7 lobes; tiger, 8 lobes; tigress, 7 lobes; tigress (a very old light-coloured one), 7 lobes; tiger, 7 lobes.

Sanderson says he has shot tigers and panthers with from 9 to 15 lobes. An article on the age of tigers as shown by their length, written by Mr. F. A. Shillingford for ‘The Asian’ and copied in ‘Land and Water,’ August 30, 1890, appears to be worth quoting:

It was the opinion of the late Mr. Joe Shillingford that
in Bengal and the Nepal Terai, at all events, tigers, as
distinguished from tigresses, did not attain full maturity until
they attained a length of over 10 ft., measured ‘sportsman’s
style,’ and that occasionally they attain a length of 11 ft., and
that the 12 ft. tiger shot by the late Mr. C. A. Shillingford was
an exceptional monster, like the exceptional tigress, 10 ft. 2
ins. in length, shot in 1867, and in these opinions I entirely
concur. I have a collection of over a hundred tiger skulls, and
in no case are the parietal sutures obliterated from old age of
skulls of tigers below 10½ ft. in length.

Tigers take to water readily, and swim higher out of the water than most animals.

Elephants who take matters into their own hands and charge at tigers are exceedingly dangerous in the field, particularly after a tiger has been killed and men are dismounting to pad it. All the elephants in such a case, except the one destined to carry the beast, should be taken away from near the carcase; they are more or less in an excited state, and are apt to mistake a man in the grass for another tiger. The writer remembers being on an elephant that stood perfectly steady for the shot, but as soon as the tiger was killed--it was within a few feet of her--it was all the mahout could do to prevent her charging it.

The elephant has a way of playing football with an animal which though diverting to a spectator is awkward for the man in the howdah. The elephant performs a kind of war dance over the carcase, kicking it about between his feet, lifting it with the front of the hindfoot and returning it from the back of the forefoot till tired, when he places one ponderous hindfoot upon it and squashes it flat. If an elephant has been mauled, it is not at all a bad plan to let it play with the carcase of its enemy; but everything should be taken out of the howdah, and the skin will not be worth much afterwards.

Two other serious dangers that have to be guarded against in tiger shooting are bees and red ants. Bees generally hang their hives from boughs of trees or on the face of rocks, but often they have them in high grass, and an elephant pushing his way through disturbs them, rendering them exceedingly aggressive, whilst a shot fired near them is quite enough to make them attack. Deaths of men and animals from their stings have often been recorded; they almost always go at the head, and the best way of escaping is to cover the head with a blanket, which should invariably be placed in each howdah. The mahouts always sit on theirs. Oddly enough, if the head is covered the rest of the body, even of unclad natives, usually escapes their attentions. A nest of red ants, though not so dangerous, is quite enough to put anyone to flight, as they bite unmercifully and leave their nippers in. No one would ever think of climbing a tree with a bee’s nest in it, but equal care should be taken that red ants, which are hard to detect, are not in it also; an inspection of the trunk will usually decide the question, especially if the boughs touch nothing else. In selecting camping grounds particular attention to these points is also necessary; most servants do not take the trouble to look up into the trees, and will light their fires under a bee’s nest till they have been properly stung once; but their carelessness may result in the loss of ponies’ or even men’s lives.

Sanderson remarks on the danger of firing at a tiger’s head except at very close ranges. The writer saw an instance of this in a tigress hit on the side of the head with an Express bullet; she dropped in her tracks, lying with her head underneath her for nearly a minute, when she recovered, went back into the jungle, and gave a good deal of trouble afterwards, charging the elephants freely. A shot through the shoulder is far more likely to be effective. A tiger seems rather a soft beast, and nearly always drops on receiving his first wound, though he picks himself up pretty quickly. Subsequent wounds have comparatively little effect on any animal, and another curious thing that the writer has noticed is that wounded animals nearly always lie down on their wounded side.

Tigers do not seem to be very particular as to what they eat. Sterndale records an instance of their eating carrion; Sanderson gives a story of three tigers killing and eating a fourth, and of their eating bears; and Colonel Kinloch told the writer of his finding a snow bear killed by a tiger in Chumba, on barasingh ground. Tigers seem to be yearly penetrating deeper into the Himalayas; probably they follow the ever-increasing herds of cattle that come up from the plains in the summer to graze.

Sterndale gives an ingenious formula for finding the length of a tiger from its skull. For details the reader is referred to his book.

In the following list of measurements only tigers of 10 ft. or over are mentioned except where weights are given and of exceptionally large tigresses. The system of recording tigers’ weights as shot does not appear satisfactory. Those which scaled over 500 lbs. must surely have included a good deal of beef.

_Measurements_

+------------+------+----+------+-----+-----+-----+------+-------+------+
|Authority |Total |Tail|Height|Girth|Girth|Girth|Length|Breadth|Weight|
| |length| |at |of |of |of |of |of |as |
| | | |shoul-|chest|fore-|upper|skull |skull |shot |
| | | |der | |arm |arm | | | |
| +------+----+------+-----+-----+-----+------+-------+------+
| | Remarks |
+------------+------+----+------+-----+-----+-----+------+-------+------+
| | ft. |ft. | ins. |ins. |ins. |ins. | ins. | ins. | lbs. |
| | ins. |ins.| | | | | | | |
|Gen. Sir C. |12 2 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Reid, K.C.B.| Sterndale’s ‘Mammalia’ (skin measured 13 ft. 5 in.) |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Lieut.-Col. |12 0 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Boileau, | | | | | | | | | |
|1861 | Sterndale |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Col. Ramsay |12 0 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Hon. R. |11 9 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Drummond, | | | | | | | | | |
|C.S. | ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Col. |11 8 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Shakespeare | ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Gen. Sir C. |11 6 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Reid, K.C.B.| ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Sterndale, |11 6 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|‘Meade | | | | | | | | | |
|Shell’ | ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. F. A. |11 5 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Shillingford| Letter to ‘The Asian,’ ‘Land and Water’, Aug. 30, 1890 |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” |11 1 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” |11 0 |3 6¾| 43 | .. | .. | .. | 15¼ | 10½ | .. |
| | Ditto (skull quoted by Sterndale now in Calcutta Museum) |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” |11 0 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” |11 0 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” |11 0 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Sir G. Yule |11 0 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | Sterndale’s ‘Mammalia’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. |11 0 |3 4 | 43 | 54 | 26 | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Shillingford| Shot in Purneah |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” |10 2 |3 1 | 45 | 73 | 34 | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | Shot in S. India |
| | Quoted by Sterndale to compare the bulk of tigers in |
| | Bengal and S. India |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. F. A. |10 10 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Shillingford| Letter to ‘The Asian’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” |10 10 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. |10 9½|3 6½| 43 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Shillingford| Sterndale’s ‘Mammalia’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” |10 8½|3 5½| 44½ | 55 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Sir J. |10 8 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Fayrer | ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. F. A. |10 8 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Shillingford| Letter to ‘The Asian’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” |10 7 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” |10 7 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” |10 6 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | ” ” |
| ” ” |10 6 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Gen. Sir C. |10 6 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Reid, K.C.B.| Sterndale’s ‘Mammalia’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Col. J. |10 4 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Macdonald | ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Maharajah of|10 2½|3 2½| 39½ | 48½ | 20 | 26½ | .. | .. | 530 |
|Kuch Behar | Letter to ‘The Asian’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” |10 2½| .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 493 |
| | Rowland Ward, ‘Horn Measurements’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. F. A. |10 2 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Shillingford| ‘The Asian,’ ‘Land and Water’, Aug. 30, 1890 |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Sir E. |10 2 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Durand, | [20] | | | | | | | | |
|Bart. | Nepal, Jan. 18, 1891 |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Maharajah of|10 1½|3 1 | 44¾ | 54 | 21 | 29 | 15¾ | .. | .. |
|Kuch Behar | ‘The Asian’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” |10 1 |3 3½| 41 | 56 | 19½ | 26 | .. | .. | .. |
| | ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Forsyth, |10 1 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|‘Highlands | | | | | | | | | |
|Central | | | | | | | | | |
|India’ | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” |10 0 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Maharajah of|10 0 |3 1 | 40 | 52 | 21 | 26 | .. | .. | 540 |
|Kuch Behar | ‘The Asian’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” |10 0 |3 2 | 40 | 51 | 18¾ | 29 | .. | .. | .. |
| | ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” | 9 10 |3 0 | 41½ | 47½ | 18½ | 26½ | .. | .. | 426 |
| | ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” | 9 6 |3 1 | 38 | 52 | 19 | 29 | .. | .. | 481 |
| | ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” | 9 5 |3 1 | 38¼ | 49 | 18 | 26 | .. | .. | 420 |
| | ” ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|‘Deccan | 9 10 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 432½ |
| Ranger,’ | | | | | | | | | |
|‘Oriental | Tiger |
|Sporting | | | | | | | | | |
|Magazine,’ | | | | | | | | | |
|1876 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” | 9 10 |3 1 | 46 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 425 |
| | ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” | 9 6 |2 11| .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 370 |
| | ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” | 9 6 |3 2 | 45 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 447½ |
| | ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” | 9 2 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 330 |
| | ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” | 9 0 |3 0 | 42 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 282 |
| | Tigress |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” | 8 11 |2 9 | 39 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 245 |
| | ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” | 8 8 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 285 |
| | Tiger |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” | 8 5 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 256 |
| | Tigress |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” | 8 5 |2 9 | 39 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 253 |
| | ” |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Mr. H. L. | 9 10 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Heber Percy | [20] | ” Nepal, Feb. 12, 1891 |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” | 9 2½| .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | [20] | ” ” Jan. 31, 1891 |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| ” ” | 9 2 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | | ” ” Jan. 21, 1891 |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|The Writer | 9 1 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | ” Central India, May 23, 1876 |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Col. Gordon |}9 1 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Cumming, |}9 0 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|‘Wild Men | ” |
|and Wild | | | | | | | | | |
|Beasts’ | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Capt. Lamb | 9 0 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | ” Central India |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Sir E. | 9 0 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
|Durand, | [20] | ” Nepal, Jan. 17, 1891 |
|Bart. | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Sanderson, | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 349½ |
|‘Thirteen | | | | | | | | | |
|Years among | | | | | | | | | |
|the Wild | | | | | | | | | |
|Beast’ | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Rowland | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 14½ | 10 | .. |
|Ward’s | | | | | | | | | |
|Collection | Rowland Ward, ‘Horn Measurements’ |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Average of | 9 6 |3 1 | 42 | 48 | 18 | 26 | .. | .. | 420 |
|full-grown | | | | | | | | | |
|tiger | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
|Average of | 8 4 |2 10| 39 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 265 |
|full-grown | | | | | | | | | |
|tigress | | | | | | | | | |
+------------+------+----+------+-----+-----+-----+------+-------+------+

V. PANTHER (_Felis Pardus_)

_Native names: generally, ‘Chita’; in the Himalayas, ‘Lagá Bagá’; in Central India, ‘Téndwá’_

The panther is common all over India, Burmah, and Ceylon, but does not cross the snow-line of the Himalayas, being replaced beyond the range by the ounce. Sterndale gives two varieties, the pard and the panther, describing the pard as being larger, the spots more clearly defined in rosettes, and the skull longer and more pointed than the panther’s. Sanderson also gives two varieties with the same distinctions, but calls Sterndale’s pard the panther, and Sterndale’s panther the leopard.

This is in itself perplexing to the ordinary sportsman, and as the writer saw two beasts shot in the same beat, the male corresponding to Sterndale’s pard and the female to Sanderson’s leopard, the only solution he can offer of the difficulty is that the sportsman may call the beast he shoots either leopard or panther according to his own fancy, and not one man in a hundred will be able to contradict him.

The panther is a nuisance wherever he is; he is perpetually prowling about villages at night picking up unconsidered trifles, such as dogs, goats, ponies and babies, in short anything. Occasionally panthers become regular man-eaters, and though far more plentiful than tigers, they are so cunning that they are far harder to shoot. A wounded panther is always a dangerous beast to follow up. He can hide, like a quail, in anything; his attack is always sudden, and being a quick, active beast, he more frequently makes good his charge than a tiger. More men get mauled by panthers than by tigers, but on the other hand fatal results are the exception, and stories are told of men having strangled panthers with their hands when they have been attacked.

Many a pet dog has been carried off in broad daylight, in the middle of large hill stations, where the forest comes close up to the roads and houses. A dog of my own had the narrowest escape in Chamba, being chased by a panther almost up to my feet. The beast had almost got hold of him when I drove him off. Ward recommends trapping, and gives capital directions for making a cage-trap. When the writer was stationed at Chakrata a few panthers were caught in these traps, but more were shot over dogs tied up as baits. Panthers are often shot in this way, or by sitting over a kill. At night a very good plan is to strew chaff thickly all round the bait, and if it is dark arrange a lantern so as to throw its light on the bait; neither of these plans will scare a panther, though it might a tiger.[21] Sterndale recommends phosphorescent oil (one grain phosphorus to one drachm oil dissolved in a bath of warm water) for touching the sights at night. There is a magnesium wire lantern, a Hanoverian invention, which is made to fit on the sportsman’s shoulder, and on a string being pulled throws a broad search light down the barrels of the rifle lasting about thirty seconds; but this, if the sportsman was sitting on the ground, might lead to complications should the first shot fail to kill outright. If a panther’s cave is found, it is often worth while watching the entrance about 4 P.M., when the animal will come out and sun himself before starting on his evening ramble. In Central India panthers are often beaten out like tigers, but they are unsatisfactory beasts to try and drive, as they are so apt to hide and let the beaters pass by them. On one occasion a panther came within shot of one of the guns, who did not fire as a tiger was expected. The panther first amused himself by catching a hare that the beaters had driven up to him, then, as the men got near, he selected a plump youth and proceeded to stalk him, when the gunner thought it time to interfere.

Sitting up over a bait at night is the poorest of all amusements. Often has the writer undergone it, and as often sworn he never would do it again, till the next absolute certainty has been offered him with the usual disappointing result.

When a panther is in the habit of attacking flocks on their way home in the evening, a good plan is to select a place before the flock returns, and arrange with the shepherd that he shall drive the flock past your hiding-place and tether a kid as he passes; the apparent absence of pre-arrangement will probably induce the panther to show at once.

Sanderson gives some stirring accounts of his adventures with panthers in which the following points are particularly noticeable, viz. the necessity of posting markers outside the cover beaten to watch the panther if he leaves it; that panthers will not charge out of caves even if poked up with bamboos; that, unlike most tigers, a panther charged home at a large party of men closed up, and used his paws, cuffing right and left instead of biting. Not that a panther never bites, as the beast referred to had bitten a man previously, but in nearly all cases of men being mauled the bulk of their injuries are claw wounds.

Sterndale relates a curious legend about a well-known man-eating panther that killed over two hundred people in three years, and was supposed to be a kind of Wehr-wolf. Panthers have often been ridden down and speared, but two or three men are required for this amusement, as on the first horse overtaking it the panther will at once crouch and endeavour to spring on the horse’s back as he passes. The second horseman should, therefore, be close up ready to cut in at once; care should be taken to get the first spear home in a good place, and the panther should be held down if possible, till despatched by the spears of the rest of the party. It is foolhardiness for a single man to attempt it. Panthers climb readily, and many have been shot out of trees where they have taken refuge, or been found lying asleep on a branch. Forsyth considers that many panthers escape in drives by taking to trees, and mentions finding the body of a child, that had been killed by a panther, lodged in a forked bough.

The troopers of the Central Indian Horse used often to kill panthers in the rainy season by tracking them into patches of sugar-cane, which they surrounded with men armed with spears and swords (guns were naturally not allowed), and then hunted the beast out with a pack of dogs. When panthers or bears were marked down in jungle too big to be surrounded, the guns were posted in trees, and the pack laid on to hunt the beasts up.

Terriers were chiefly used, but it was necessary to employ a greyhound or two to prevent the beast galloping away from the little dogs; the greyhounds would not tackle, but by ranging up and snapping would impede the beast’s movements. Sanderson had great sport with his pack, hunting bears, bison, and even on one occasion a young elephant. He gives every instruction for getting together a pack, but does not mention the use of greyhounds, though they would evidently have saved his heavy seizers from long tiring runs. Sambur hunting with dogs in Ceylon is an old-established custom, but there apparently the whole pack is hunted together, while Sanderson appears to have kept his seizers up till the quarry came to bay and then slipped them.

Black panthers are occasionally found, but they are merely instances of melanism, several cases of a single black cub in a litter being recorded. As a rule, these black specimens are only found in heavy forests, not in the more open ground, and they are more common in the south of India than the north. There is a lovely stuffed specimen in the British Museum, upon which the markings are just discernible in certain lights.

VI. THE CLOUDED PANTHER (_Felis Diardii_ vel _Macrocelis_)

_Native names: ‘Tungmar’ Lepcha; ‘Zik’ Bhotia; ‘Lamchitta’ of the Khas tribe (Sterndale)_

This panther seems to be entirely a forest animal. It extends from Nepal eastwards through Assam.

Kinloch gives an instance of one having been shot, but specimens are very rarely obtained, though occasionally live cubs have been bought from natives.

The chief peculiarities of this species are the extreme beauty of the colouring, and the fact that the upper canines are the longest in comparison of all living felines.

VII. THE HUNTING LEOPARD (_Felis jubata_)

_Native names: ‘Chita’ generally; ‘Yuz’ of the Chita-catchers (Sterndale)_

This animal is generally found in Central or Southern India. The writer has never heard of it in the Punjab or North-West Provinces. According to Sterndale, it is most common in Jeypur in Upper India and Hyderabad in Southern India.

In general colour it is like a panther, except that its nose is black instead of pinkish; it has a mane on the neck and long hair on the belly; its spots are single and not in rosettes. Its shape is quite different from that of the panther. Instead of having the muscular forearm, short legs and rounded body of that beast, it is a tall greyhound-like animal with thin long legs, and toes like a dog, the claws being only semi-retractile.

It is not often shot, but most native princes have tame specimens for hunting antelopes. These have to be caught when nearly full grown, as cubs cannot be trained for the sport, and chita catching is a regular profession in certain districts. In Sterndale’s ‘Mammalia of India’ there is an interesting account of catching chitas quoted from ‘The Asian.’ As regards its habits when wild, the writer says:

It is said by shikaries to feed only once every third day, when,
after gorging itself, it retires to its den for the other two.
On the morning of the third day he visits some particular tree,
which the animals of his species in the neighbourhood are in the
habit of frequenting. Such trees are easily to be recognised
by the scoring of the bark, on which he whets his claws. From
this meeting place, after having played about with such of his
comrades as may be there, they go off on a hunting expedition.

Here is evidently the tip for any sportsman wishing to shoot one: find a tree with tracks three days old, and sit up in it on the fourth morning.

Sterndale says:

Chita kittens are quite grey without any spots, but can always
be recognised by the black stripe down the nose, and on cutting
off a bit of the soft hair I noticed that the spots are quite
distinct in the under fur. As a rule the young of all cats, even
the large one-coloured species, such as the lion and puma, are
spotted, but the hunting leopard is externally an exception,
although the spots are there lying hid.

Hunting antelope with chitas has been described _ad nauseam_, and is in the opinion of the writer very poor sport. It is worth witnessing once, if only to see how fast a chita can go.

VIII. THE OUNCE, OR SNOW LEOPARD (_Felis Uncia_)

_Generally, ‘Safed Chita’; Thibet, ‘Stian’_

The ounce is fairly common on the higher ranges; there are few ibex grounds on which its tracks will not occasionally be seen, but owing to its nocturnal habits it is very rarely met with. It preys chiefly on ibex and burrel, and rarely, if ever, descends to the forest line. It will kill sheep and goats. A farm in Lahoul, belonging to the Moravian missionaries, suffered considerably in 1884 from the depredations of a pair of ounces that lived in the valley behind Kielang. The male of this pair was killed by an officer of the Royal Artillery, who saw the ounce on his return from shooting late in the evening. The next day he went back up the nullah prepared to spend the night out, shot a young male ibex and dragged the carcase down to where he had seen the ounce the day before. Just at dusk the ounce came to the bait and was missed clean with the first barrel; however, the sportsman, being highly favoured by the gods, bagged him with a second shot, and next morning brought him in triumph down to Kielang. The skin was a beauty, very pale yellowish white with black spots and black rings on the thick furry tail.