Part 16 (1/2)
[124] ”The Works of Jeremy Bentham,” now first collected under the superintendence of his executor, John Bowring, vol. xi. pp. 80, 81.
[125] Jeremy Bentham's house in Queen's Square was that which had been occupied by the great poet.
[126] Vol. i. No. 3. p. 27.
[127] _Times_, 18 Dec. 1830, quoted by Southey, ”Common-Place Book,” iv.
p. 489.
[128] ”Physic and Physicians,” a medical sketch-book, vol. ii. p. 363 (1839).
[129] ”A Book for a Rainy Day,” p. 103. Old Smith was a regular hunter after legacies, and like all such was often disappointed. His ”Nollekens” is a fine example.
[130] ”Memoirs of James Montgomery,” by Holland and Everett, iv. pp.
114, 115.
[131] ”A History of Peebless.h.i.+re,” by William Chambers of Glenormiston, p. 403 (1864).
[132] See vol. v. p. 145.
[133] A cat of Mr Bedford's.
[134] ”Life and Correspondence,” v. p. 223.
[135] On Instinct, a Lecture delivered before the Dublin Natural History Society, 11th November 1842. Dublin, 1847. P. 10.
TIGER AND LION.
These most ferocious of the Carnivora have afforded interesting subjects to many a traveller. An extensive volume of truly sensational adventure might be compiled about them, adding a chapter for the jaguar and the leopard, two extremely dangerous spotted cats, that can do what neither tigers nor lions are able to do--namely, climb trees. Having once asked a friend, who was at the death of many a wild beast, which was the most savage animal he had ever seen, he replied, ”A wounded leopard.” It was to such an animal that Jacob referred when he saw Joseph's clothes, and said--”Some evil beast hath devoured him.” Colonel Campbell's work, from which the first paragraph is derived, contains much about the pursuit of the tiger. Dr Livingstone's travels and Gordon c.u.mming's books on South Africa, neither of which we have quoted, have thrilling pages about the lordly presence of ”the king of beasts.” Mr Joseph Wolf and Mr Lewis are perhaps the best draughtsmen of the lion among recent artists. The public admire much Sir Edwin Landseer's striking bronze lions on the pedestal of the Nelson Monument. That artist excels in his pictures of the lion. On the a.s.syrian monuments in the British Museum are many wonderfully executed lion hunts, as perfectly preserved as if they had been chiselled in our day. Parts of these bas-reliefs were certainly designed from actual sketches made from the lions and dogs, which took the chief part in the amus.e.m.e.nts of some ”Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.” Even our Scottish kings kept a lion or lions as ornaments of their court. At Stirling Castle and Palace, a room which we saw in 1865, still bears the name of the ”Lion's Den.” The British lion is an old emblem of both Scotland and England, and it is not twenty-five years ago since we, in common with every visitor to the Tower, were glad to see ”the Royal Lion.” Dr Livingstone's experience, we have not the slightest wish to prove its accuracy, shows that the lion has a soothing, or rather paralysing power over his prey, when he has knocked it down or bitten it.
BUSSAPA, THE TIGER-SLAYER, AND THE TIGER.
The following striking anecdote recounts the extraordinary presence of mind and determined courage of a celebrated Mahratta hunter named Bussapa. This man acquired the name of the ”Tiger-slayer,” and wore on his breast several silver medals granted by the Indian Government for feats of courage in destroying tigers. Colonel Campbell met him, and in ”My Indian Journal” (pp. 142, 143), published in 1864, has recorded from his brother's diary the following anecdote:--”Bussapa, a hunter of 'Lingyat' caste, with whom I am well acquainted, was sent for by the headman of a village, to destroy a tiger which had carried off a number of cattle. He came, and having ascertained the brute's usual haunts, fastened a bullock near the edge of a ravine which he frequented, and quietly seated himself beside it, protected only by a small bush. Soon after sunset the tiger appeared, killed the bullock, and was glutting himself with blood, when Bussapa, thrusting his long matchlock through the bush, fired, and wounded him severely. The tiger half rose, but being unable to see his a.s.sailant on account of the intervening bush, dropped again on his prey with a sudden growl. Bussapa was kneeling within three paces of him, completely defenceless; he did not even dare to reload, for he well knew that the slightest movement on his part would be the signal for his immediate destruction; his bare knees were pressed upon gravel, but he dared not venture to s.h.i.+ft his uneasy position. Ever and anon, the tiger, as he lay with his glaring eyes fixed upon the bush, uttered his hoa.r.s.e growl of anger; his hot breath absolutely blew upon the cheek of the wretched man, yet still he moved not. The pain of his cramped position increased every moment--suspense became almost intolerable; but the motion of a limb, the rustling of a leaf, would have been death. Thus they remained, the man and the tiger, watching each other's motions; but even in this fearful situation, his presence of mind never for a moment forsook the n.o.ble fellow. He heard the gong of the village strike each hour of that fearful night, that seemed to him 'eternity,' and yet he lived; the tormenting mosquitoes swarmed round his face, but he dared not brush them off. That fiend-like eye met his whenever he ventured a glance towards the horrid spell that bound him; and a hoa.r.s.e growl grated on the stillness of the night, as a pa.s.sing breeze stirred the leaves that sheltered him. Hours rolled on, and his powers of endurance were well-nigh exhausted, when, at length, the welcome streaks of light shot up from the eastern horizon. On the approach of day, the tiger rose, and stalked away with a sulky pace, to a thicket at some distance, and then the stiff and wearied Bussapa felt that he was safe.
”One would have thought that, after such a night of suffering, he would have been too thankful for his escape, to venture on any further risk.
But the valiant Bussapa was not so easily diverted from his purpose; as soon as he had stretched his cramped limbs, and restored the checked circulation, he reloaded his matchlock, and coolly proceeded to finish his work. With his match lighted, he advanced close to the tiger, lying ready to receive him, and shot him dead by a ball in the forehead, while in the act of charging.”
Colonel Campbell relates, that most of Bussapa's family have fallen victims to tigers. But the firm belief of the ”tiger-slayer” in predestination, makes him blind to all danger.
JOHN HUNTER AND THE DEAD TIGER.
The greatest comparative anatomist our country has produced, John Hunter, obtained the refusal of all animals which happened to die in the Tower or in the travelling menageries. In this way he often obtained rare subjects for his researches. Dr Forbes Winslow[136] alludes to a well-known fact, that all the money Hunter could spare, was devoted to procuring curiosities of this sort, and Sir Everard Home used to state, that as soon as he had acc.u.mulated fees to the amount of ten guineas, he always purchased some addition to his collection. Indeed, he was not unfrequently obliged to borrow of his friends, when his own funds were at a low ebb, and the temptation was strong. ”Pray, George,” said he one day to Mr G. Nicol, the bookseller to the king, with whom he was very intimate, ”have you got any money in your pocket?” Mr N. replied in the affirmative. ”Have you got five guineas? Because, if you have, and will lend it me, you shall go halves.”--”Halves in what?” inquired his friend.--”Why, halves in a magnificent tiger, which is now dying in Castle Street.” Mr Nicol lent the money, and Hunter purchased the tiger.
TIGERS.
Mrs Colin Mackenzie[137] records the death of a man from the wounds of a tiger. ”The tiger,” she says, ”was brought in on the second day. He died from the wound he had received. I gave the body to the Dhers in our service, who ate it. The claws and whiskers are greatly prized by the natives as charms. The latter are supposed to give the possessor a certain malignant power over his enemies, for which reason I always take possession of them to prevent our people getting them. The tiger is very commonly wors.h.i.+pped all over India. The women often prostrate themselves before a dead tiger, when sportsmen are bringing it home in triumph; and in a village, near Nagpur, Mr Hislop found a number of rude images, almost like four-legged stools, which, on inquiry, proved to be meant for tigers, who were wors.h.i.+pped as the tutelary deities of the place. I believe a fresh image is added for every tiger that is slain.”