uns.

The shikarree could have approached and thrust the tiger, without much
danger; but, to make sure, the double-barrel, already loaded with ball,
was fired at him, along with Caspar's rifle; and one of the bullets
striking him between the ribs, put an end to his struggles, by laying
him out upon the grass dead as a herring.

Upon examining him, they found that the fig-leaves go covered his eyes,
as to render him completely blind. What prevented him from scratching
them off with his huge claws was, that these were so wrapped up in the
leafy envelope as to render them perfectly useless, and no longer
dangerous, had any one engaged with him in close combat.

When the exciting scene was over, all of the party indulged in hearty
laughter; for there was something extremely ludicrous, not only in the
idea, but in the act itself, of trapping a royal tiger by so simple a
contrivance as birdlime.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

A RARE RAFT.

Ossaroo did not fail to skin the tiger, and to eat for his supper a
large steak, cut off from his well-fleshed ribs. The others did not
join him in this singular viand, although the shikarree assured them
that tiger-beef was far superior to the venison of the sambur deer.
There may have been truth in Ossaroo's assertion; for it is well-known,
that the flesh of several kinds of carnivorous animals is not only
palatable, but delicate eating. Indeed, the delicacy of the meat does
not seem at all to depend upon the food of the animal; since no creature
is a more unclean feeder than the domestic pig, and what is nicer or
more tender than a bit of roast pork? On the other hand, many animals,
whose flesh is exceedingly bitter, feed only on fresh grass or sweet
succulent roots and plants. As a proof of this, I might instance the
tapir of South America, the quaggas and zebras of Africa, and even some
animals of the deer and antelope tribes, whose flesh is only eatable in
cases of emergency.

The same fact may be observed in relation to birds. Many birds of prey
furnish a dish quite equal to choice game. For one, the flesh of the
large chicken-hawk of America (eaten and eagerly sought after by the
plantation negroes) is not much, if anything, inferior to that of the
bird upon which it preys.

It was not for the "meat," however, that Ossaroo stripped the tiger of
his skin, but rather for the skin itself; and not so much for the
absolute value of the skin, for in India that is not great. Had i