woman so dreadfully, as to occasion her death. A fortunate shot, however, laid the animal prostrate.

There is an account of a tame tiger which was brought from China in an East Indiaman, which was so far domesticated as to admit of every kind of familiarity from the people on board. He seemed to be quite harmless and as playful as a kitten. He frequently slept with the sailors in their hammocks, and would suffer two or three of them to repose their heads upon his back, as upon a pillow, while he lay stretched upon the deck. In return for this, he would now and then steal their meat. Having one day carried off a piece of beef from the carpenter, the man followed the animal, took it out of his mouth, and beat him severely for the theft, which punishment he suffered with all the patience of a dog. He would frequently run upon the bow-sprit, climb about like a cat, and perform a number of tricks with astonishing agility. There was a dog on board with whom he often played in the most amusing manner; he was only a month or six weeks old when taken on board.

The Giant of the Jungle.

A buffalo, belonging to a peasant in India, having fallen into a quagmire, the man was himself unable to extricate it, and went to call the assistance of his neighbors. Meanwhile, a large tiger coming to the spot, seized upon the buffalo, and dragged him out. When the men came to the place, they saw the tiger with the buffalo thrown over his shoulder, in the act of retiring with him towards the jungle. No sooner, however, did he observe the men, than he let fall the dead animal, and precipitately escaped. On coming up, they found the buffalo quite dead, and his whole blood sucked out. Some notion may be gained of the immense power of the tiger when it is remembered that the ordinary weight of a buffalo is above a thousand pounds, and, consequently, considerably more than double its own weight.

Combats between these animals were once frequent in the island of Java, and, when they were to fight for the amusement of the court, they were brought into the field in large cages. The place was surrounded by a body of people four feet deep, with levelled pikes, that, if the creatures endeavored to break through they might be immediately killed. When all was in readiness, the cage of the buffalo was first opened at the top, and his back rubbed with the leaves of a plant, which occasioned him intolerable pain; then the animal leaped out, roaring most dreadfully. The cage of the tiger was then opened, and fire thrown into it to make the beast quit it, which he generally did, running backwards out of it. No sooner did the tiger perceive the buffalo, than he sprang upon

him; his huge opponent standing expecting him, with his horns on the ground, in order to catch him upon them, and throw him in the air. If the buffalo succeeded, and the tiger recovered from his fall, he was generally indisposed to renew the contest; and if the tiger avoided this first attempt of the buffalo, he sprang upon him, and, seizing him in the neck or other parts, tore his flesh from his bones. In most cases, however, the strength of the buffalo overcame the address and ferocity of the tiger.

Barbaric Sport.

On another occasion, a lofty bamboo palisade was erected at Siam, which occupied an area of about one hundred feet square. Into this enclosure two elephants were introduced, with their heads and trunks shielded by a kind of mask. A large tiger was now brought from its den, and held with cords till one of the elephants approached, and inflicted two or three blows on its back with his trunk, so heavily that it fell stunned as if dead. Then they loosed the tiger. No sooner did he recover than he sprang with a dreadful roar at the elephant's trunk, stretched out in the act to strike him, but the wary elephant drew up his trunk, and, receiving the tiger on his tusks, hurled him into the air. This checked the fury of the tiger-as it well might-and it gave up the contest with the elephant; but he ran several times round the palisade, frequently springing at the spectators. Afterwards three elephants were set upon him, and they, in turn, dealt him such heavy blows that he again lay senseless, and would have been killed, had not the struggle been stopped. Such a trial of strength, however, was wanton and cruel, but it placed beyond all doubt the "pluck" of the tiger.

The only animal, says a traveller in the East, found suitable to assist in the capture of the tiger is the elephant, which often displays great courage and coolness in the chase, and at times a sagacity which has saved the rider's life. On notice being given that there was a tiger in the neighborhood, the whole station was aroused, and in a state of preparation began to proceed to the cover; the elephants were brought out, and the tumult that arose before all was ready, between drivers, dogs and horses, elephants and their masters, was indescribable. From ten to thirty of these animals, each carrying a sportsman armed with rifles of various descriptions, have generally started for the jungle (though sometimes a field of nearly one hundred elephants have been out), and commenced regularly to beat for the game.

Seeking the Game.

We found immense quantities of game, wild dogs, hogs and the neilghie, literally the blue cow. We, however, strictly abstained from firing,

reserving our whole battery for the nobler game-the tiger. It was perhaps fortunate that we did not find one in the thick part of the forest, as the trees were so close set, and so interwoven with thorns and parasitic plants, that the elephants were often obliged to clear for themselves a passage by their own pressing exertions. It is curious, on these occasions, to see the enormous trees these animals will overthrow on a word from the driver; they place their foreheads against the obnoxious plant, twisting their trunks round it, and gradually bending it towards the ground, until they can place a foot upon it. This done, down comes the tree with crashing stem and upturned roots. The elephant must be well educated to accomplish this duty in a gentleman-like manner; that is, without roaring sulkily, or shaking his master by too violent exertions.

On clearing the wood, we entered an open space of marshy grass, not three feet high; a large herd of cattle were feeding there, and the herdsman was sitting singing under a bush; when, just as the former began to move before us, up sprang the very tiger to which our visit was intended, and cantered off before a bare plain, dotted with small patches of bushjungle. He took to the open country in a style that would have more become a fox than a tiger, which is expected by his pursuers to fight and not to run; and as he was flushed on the flank of the line, only one bullet was fired at him ere he cleared the thick grass. He was unhurt, and we pursued him at full speed.

An Exciting Capture.

Twice he threw us out by stopping short in small strips of jungle, and tearing back after we had passed; and he had given us a very fast trot of about two miles, when an officer, who led the field, at last reached him by a capital shot, his elephant being in full career. As soon as he felt himself wounded, the tiger crept into a close thicket of trees and bushes, and crouched. The two leading sportsmen overran the spot where he lay; and as I came up I saw him, through an aperture, rising to attempt a charge. My driver had just before, in the heat of the chase, dropped his goad, which I had refused to allow him to recover; and the elephant being notoriously savage, and further irritated by the goading he had undergone, became, consequently, unmanageable; he appeared to see the tiger as soon as myself, and I had only time to fire one shot, when he suddenly rushed with the greatest fury into the thicket, and falling on his knees, nailed the tiger with his tusks to the ground.

Such was the violence of the shock, that my servant, who sat behind, was thrown out, and one of my guns went overboard. The struggles of my elephant to crush his still resisting foe, which had fixed one paw on

his eye, were so energetic that I was obliged to hold on with all my strength to keep myself in the seat. The second barrel, too, of the gun which I still retained in my hand, went off in the scuffle, the ball passing close to the driver's ear, whose situation, poor fellow, was anything but enviable. As soon as my elephant was prevailed upon to leave the killing part of the business to the sportsmen, they gave the roughlyused tiger the go by. It was a very fine female, with the most beautiful skin I ever saw.

The Famous Black Bear.

This animal inhabits every wooded district of the American continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Carolina to the shores of the Arctic Sea. Man has, however, gradually driven it from its haunts to make way for his works, and has compelled it to take refuge in the mountains and the immense inland forests. In Canada it is still found, and it is tolerably numerous on the Western coast, as far as California.

The black bear is smaller than other American bears-the total length of an adult seldom exceeding five feet. Its favorite food is berries of various kinds, but, when these are not to be procured, it preys on roots, insects, fish, eggs, and such birds or quadrupeds as it can surprise. It does not eat animal food from choice; for, when it has abundance of its favorite vegetable diet, it will pass the carcass of a deer without touching it.

It is rather a timid animal, and will seldom face a man except it is wounded, or has its retreat cut off, or is urged by affection to defend its young. In such instances its strength renders it a dangerous assailant. The female has been known to confront her enemy boldly, until she had seen her cubs attain the highest branches of a tree, when she made off, evidently considering them to be in safety, but leaving them, in fact, an easy prey to the hunter. The speed of the black bear when in pursuit, is not very great, and a man may escape from it, particularly if he runs into a willow grove, or among loose grass; for the caution of the bear obliges it to stop frequently, and rise on its hind legs, for the purpose of reconnoitering. A black bear, however, has been known to make off with a speed that would have baffled the fleetest runner, and ascend a nearly perpendicular cliff, with a facility that a cat might envy.

One of the most curious of this race of animals is the labiated, or sloth bear. This animal, on its first arrival in Europe, was taken for a sloth, but Blainville proved that it is a species of bear. It is a favorite with the jugglers of India, who consider its ugliness an attraction. The cartilage of the nose is capable of extention, and the lips of considerable protrusion, as may be seen if the spectator hold a morsel of fruit or biscuit at a proper