In the Forests of the Night The Book of the
Tiger. By Brigadier-General R. G. Burton.
(Hutchinson. 12a. 6d.)
Hunteea moRp. By Major L. M. H. Handley. (Macmillan. 15s.)
Tuouon the tiger figures largely in these two books, there is a striking dissimilarity of. treatment which leaves them poles apart. Both the authors are great shikaris, and what they say of their craft hangs together in a surprising harmony of experience ; but while General Burton's interest lies in the tiger as a creature worth studying, Major Handley regards it more as a lure to the forest, as a provider of thrills, as an enticement to " the glamour and romance of these vast green silences, where only- man is vile."
The titles epitomize their attitudes succinctly. The Book of the Tiger is really the shrewdest, soundest and at the same time the most erudite treatise on the tiger that has come our way. Starting with tigers in pre-history, General Burton considers the tiger from every point of view with a thoroughness which is as interesting as it is informative. There are chapters, to select only a few, on the size of tigers, their geographical distribution, . breeding and gestation, man-eaters, and (most interesting of all) on the character and behaviour of tigers, in which the author ahnost seems to think tiger. We are told how tigers hunt and are hunted, and finally we meet the tiger in history and literature, with a special, and most entertaining, chapter on tiger myths and superstitions.
This cursory summary is sufficient to indicate the scope of the work, though it cannot do justice to the skill with which this volume of knowledge is presented. The temptation to quote is great, even if the book does 'not readily lend itself to quotation, but we must content ourselves with referring to the Tiger God of the Gcinds, a " Divine Being in the form of an immense White Tiger," which on receiving sacrifices. prowls around an afflicted area and " expels the beast whose depredations have been causing loss to the aboriginal proteges. or their flocks and herds "—this god whom General Burton' not inaptly refers to Pan, "the all-pervading divine essence " of Wood and foiest. Were-tigers are akin to all the were-' animals throughout the world, and the stories that are told: of them vary little from the traditional legends of the old. world or the new. But there is one delightful idea which may. be mentioned, prevalent in some parts of India, to the effect that a tiger is allowed one rupee a day for food, so that if he kills five rupees' worth in a day the villagers are satisfied, that they will be safe for the next four days I It is strange that a book so realistic as General Burton's' should 'succeed just where Hunter's Moon fails. For despite Majcir Handleir's protestations there is far' more blood and slaughter in the latter than in Time Book of the Tiger. The lure of the forest and Major Handley's delight in its mystery and 'remoteness could not apparently oust the more primitive' lust for killing, sensitive though he is to natural beauty and the- poetily of 'solitude. But far more characteristic is a sentence such as this : " the tiptoeing of a tige' Vilowards one's maehan, iknorant of danger, is the sweetest of jungle music —and, by the way, it is a pity that more than once he refers to an earlier hunting expedition in Africa, where hunting by machan is not held in high repute, especially as he misquotes the few words of Swahili that he uses.
The most remarkable thing, however, to find in one who claims a sensitivity to nature is an apparent callousness and insensitiveness to the feelings of others. He disregards Mahometan conventions and insists on going to the housetops at a time when they are consecrated to the zenanas. A head- man will not sell him a buffalo calf for a bait owing to the- Hindu objeetion to killing them ; .so he lifts half a dozen and threatens and blusters their owner into acquiescence.. His beaters are-" a horde of semi-simian morons," who have to be bullied and booted into subservience and a proper appreci- ation of his superiority.
Contrast , the attitude of General Burton, who writes, " PersonallyI recall these simple peasants and my shikaris and other followers with admiration and grateful remembrance." He can sympathize with them and appreciate their courage, but to, Major Handley the. East will always be East and the West will always- wear boots. We see the same attitude- in regard to the buffalo calves used as bait for the tiger. Major Handley has no time for the R.S.P.C.A. and kindred senti.;• mentalists ; buffaloes don't feel ; they like being eaten by tigers. But General Burton feels that the whole process is cruel. " I was never," he writes, " able to get over my repugnance to leaving the unfortunate creature to its. pro- speetive fate." Realism wins in the long run, and (as too often) glamour and an appeal to the mysterious silences imply little more than an avoidance of issues.
J. H. DRTBERO.
Previous page
