quently found in the same
lair; and when the black tiger is very young, leopard-like spots are
discernible on its skin. As it grows older, they disappear, and the hair
becomes of a uniform black. In the interior of Java much mischief is
done by these cowardly but bloodthirsty and cunning beasts. In the
neighbourhood of the large European settlements, accidents are less
frequent, the tiger shunning populous districts, and retreating into the
forest on the approach of man. When one makes its appearance, the
authorities generally order a battue. Very few, however, are killed,
though a price is set upon their heads, and they continue to destroy
about three hundred Javans per annum, on a moderate average. This is, in
great measure, the fault of the natives themselves, who, instead of
doing their utmost to exterminate the breed, entertain a sort of
superstitious respect for their devourers, and carry it so far as to
place food in the places to which they are known to resort, thinking
thereby to propitiate the foe, and keep his claws off their wives and
children. They themselves, when compelled to oppose the tiger, or when
led against him by their European allies, show vast coolness and
courage, the more remarkable, as, in ordinary circumstances of danger,
they are by no means a brave people. Raffles quotes several anecdotes of
their fearlessness before wild beasts, and Dr. Selberg furnishes one of
a similar kind. "A Javan criminal was condemned by the sultan to fight a
large royal tiger, whose ferocity was raised to the highest point by
want of food, and artificial irritation. The only weapon allowed to the
human combatant was a kreese with the point broken off. After wrapping a
cloth round his left fist and arm, the man entered the arena with an air
of undaunted calmness, and fixed a steady menacing gaze upon the brute.
The tiger sprang furiously upon his intended victim, who with
extraordinary boldness and rapidity thrust his left fist into the gaping
jaws, and at the same moment, with his keen though pointless dagger,
ripped up the beast to the very heart. In less than a minute, the tiger
lay dead at his conqueror's feet. The criminal was not only forgiven but
ennobled by his sovereign."

A tiger having attacked and torn a Javan woman, a hunt was ordered, and
Dr. Selberg was invited to share in it. He got on horseback before
daybreak, but the sun was up and hot when he reached the place of
rendezvous, where he found a stro