kinning, and run
the tape tight along the line, beginning at the tip of the nose, along
the middle of the skull, between the ears and neck, then along the
spine to the end of the tail, taking any curves of the body.

'No doubt measurements of skull, body, tail, legs, &c., ought all to
be taken, to give an adequate idea of the tiger, and for comparing
them with one another, but this is not always feasible.'

Most of the leading sportsmen in India now-a-days are very particular
in taking the dimensions of every limb of the dead tiger. They take
his girth, length, and different proportions. Many even weigh the
tiger when it gets into camp, and no doubt this test is one of the
best that can be given for a comparison of the sizes of the different
animals slain.

Another much disputed point in the natural history of the animal, a
point on which there has been much acrimonious discussion, is the
number of young that are given at a birth. Some writers have asserted,
and stoutly maintained, that two cubs, or at the most three, is the
extreme number of young brought forth at one time.

This may be the ordinary number, but the two gentlemen I have already
alluded to have assured me, that on frequent occasions they have
picked up four actually born, and have cut out five several times, and
on one occasion six, from the womb of a tigress.

I have myself picked up four male cubs, all in one spot, with their
eyes just beginning to open, and none of their teeth through the gums.
One had been trampled to death by buffaloes, the other three were
alive and scatheless, huddled into a bush, like three immense kittens.
I kept the three for a considerable time, and eventually took them to
Calcutta and sold them for a very satisfactory price.

It seems clear, however, that the tigress frequently has four and even
five cubs. It is rare, indeed to find her accompanied by more than two
well grown cubs, very seldom three; and the inference is, that one or
two of the young tigers succumb in very early life.

The young ones do not appear to grow very quickly; they are about a
foot long when they are born; they are born blind, with very minute
hair, almost none in fact, but with the stripes already perfectly
marked on the soft supple skin; they open their eyes when they are
eight or ten days old, at which time they measure about a foot and a
half. At the age of nine months they have attained to five feet in
length, and are waxing mischievous.