Chapter 4: The Tiger at Home
Civilization, primitive and crude as it has been, attended by the destruction of the growing timber, has forced all China's big game inland to retreats more secluded than the almost barren coastwise mountain ranges now afford. It is a common thing to hear the elders of the clans talk of the days when both the serow and wapiti, or some other form of very large deer, were common on hills now almost denuded of growing timber, while both leopard and tiger abounded to a far greater extent but a decade or so ago.
It is not home-building, nor the agricultural pursuits of this present generation that have so devastated the mountain fastness, for everything seems to indicate that this wonderful hill country was once more thoroughly cultivated than now, while the deserted hamlets and brush-ridden ruins indicate that there has been a decided scattering of a once dense population among the foothills. Two factors, at least, have contributed largely to existing conditions in South China.
In the first place, there has been within the last few decades an exodus from this mountain and hill country on account of the movement toward the larger centers and cities. Many able-bodied men now seem to find greater satisfaction serving as chair bearers or ricksha coolies in the cities than they did tilling the soil on the ancestral homestead. With this movement toward the larger centers there has been an attending moral degeneration, for the young men from the rural sections have found it hard to withstand the temptations always met among city environments, thousands returning to their ancestral homes physical and moral wrecks.
During this same period, and more especially during the past ten years or so, there has been an ever-increasing stream of emigrants seeking homes and employment in the Malay States and beyond. This movement has been encouraged by American and British missionaries living in those parts, who have sometimes even acted as agents in organizing colonies of Fukienese to work on the rubber plantations and in the tin mines. Even a greater degree of degeneracy has resulted from this mass movement of Chinese to distant points, this being especially true of those who work in the mines. On the other hand, the Fukien Chinese Christians who have followed these movements have proven themselves to be of such character as to become practically the hope of a strong and enduring Malaysian Church, under the wise guidance of the missionaries stationed in these great centers.
Whilst the congested conditions have seemingly been greatly relieved by this exodus to other parts, those who have remained by the homestead of their fathers have been subjected to extreme hardships little dreamed of in the earlier days. The natural results of the deforestation ruthlessly carried on in generations past are now being realized, to the sorrow of those living in the ancestral homes, for, with the possible exception of very limited areas, the people are reduced to terrible straits by the frightful shortage of fuel. The burning of wood has long since become out of the question with the masses living along the coast, as the hills are absolutely barren of trees. Here and there hills covered with seedling pines are permitted to attain a height of ten feet or so, but then they yield to the terrible fuel pressure and are harvested and marketed at some distant center at astonishingly high prices.
The natural outcome of this policy is that the masses living along the foothills and in the adjacent plains are being compelled to rely for their fuel supply upon the grass growing upon the hills, which is especially rank in the ravines. Along the coast even grass roots are pulled up during the stage of low tides and among the salt marshes. These are washed several times to remove the mud and salt and burned sparingly in the preparation of food.
Among these people there is no provision for even such comfort as the fire-basket affords. This is used commonly where there is a growth of trees sufficient to permit the burning of charcoal. The actual suffering due to this fuel shortage is intense, as the price of wood and coal brought in by the sea is prohibitive. Peat beds here and there have been found from which "coal balls" are made, offering some relief to those who have access to such fuel and can afford to burn it.
Just when the hardwood and pine disappeared from these barren hills would be difficult to ascertain, but the many hills, standing out in bold relief, without so much as an inch of soil, would indicate that it has been many years since the disastrous work of deforestation became complete. The mountain ranges further inland seem doomed to the same deplorable fate. It has been told me by raftsmen that more than ten million dollars' worth of logs are rafted down the Min River annually. No country can long stand such a draining off of its timber life.
One would hardly expect to find tigers among the almost barren hills along the coast of Fukien Province, but it seems that the king cat of these wilds reluctantly abandons this region where it has fared well for ages, though now only here and there may be found ravines sufficiently wooded to offer shelter from sun and storm. It is from such centers that the marauders issue forth to carry on their work of destruction among the flocks and herds of the peasant people living among the foothills and on the plains. It is also during these twilight excursions that the greatest loss of human life occurs.
On many occasions I have spent one or more days in the region infested by both leopard and tiger, and interesting indeed have been many of the stories I have heard. Availing myself of every opportunity to make a first-hand study of the habits of tigers in this comparatively open country, during a period of more than ten years I have time and again been richly rewarded for the time and risk involved.
I have been especially interested in the doings of a tiger long talked of by the natives as the "Black Devil," but which I later termed the "Blue Tiger." On two different occasions and at very close range I have seen specimens of this peculiarly marked and handsome animal. While seeking opportunity for a shot at this particular tiger I have repeatedly concealed myself behind a "blind" in the lair and made long studies of the habits of tigers of the regular type when they had no reason to suspect the presence of an enemy.
In March, 1910, I led a goat into a ravine where had frequently been seen tigers of the ordinary type. A number of wood-cutters had reported having seen the blue tiger in this lair, so it was with hopes of seeing a specimen of this type that I entered the ravine. I was armed with a double-barrel shotgun, instead of my usual Savage rifle, as it was by chance only that I was passing through this tiger-infested region.
On this occasion the tiger responded immediately to the bleating of the goat tethered on an abandoned terrace. For more than an hour the tiger was in full view, not to exceed fifty yards away.
It seemed to suspect treachery on account of the lone goat being in this out-of-the-way place. Had it been the fleet little muntjac, with which the mountains abound, barking for its mate, the tiger doubtless would have made an immediate attack lest the animal slip away. As it was, the big cat sat for nearly an hour like a huge tabby, repeatedly putting forward the front foot as if to move forward, but each time drawing it back to its original position. I have never been able to make other studies which reflect any degree of certain light upon why this tiger acted in such a cautious manner. Others watched have advanced to their kill rapidly under much more unfavorable conditions.
While watching this tiger I learned one very important thing concerning the nature of an attack. I noticed that the cat followed the trail instead of taking a much shorter cut through the tangle which would have landed it directly in attacking position. Subsequent observations have proven that a tiger always follows a path, or takes the course of least resistance, even though by so doing it is necessary to make a wide detour. It will not work its way over rough and uneven ground or through unbroken tangle.
The study of this animal was completed after it crossed a depression and came out upon some barren ground across which it was necessary to work its way before the final attack. It was now within a few rods of the goat, and seemed to realize that it was very much exposed. But to secure the goat it had to cross the open, and cross it he did, more like a great striped serpent than a majestic beast of prey.
With head extended so that chin and throat touched the ground, and every muscle seemingly strained, the animal propelled itself along with amazing speed with absolutely no motion other than what appeared a mere quivering of the shoulders and hips.
This study did not last long, however, for just as soon as the tiger was under cover of the terrace he made three flying leaps, each landing upon the point of a terrace, and bringing him to the foot of the terrace upon which both goat and hunter stood. As the animal crawled upon the upper terrace and settled catlike for a final spring it saw me at a distance of not more than twenty-five feet. Without paying any more attention to the goat the animal squared itself toward me. At this point it became necessary for me to fire the shot that finished this wonderful study.
A tiger by instinct is a coward. Bold and daring, when circumstances favor him, he will hurriedly abandon a fresh kill of a goat or a cow upon the first cry of a shepherd boy attending a flock perhaps a long distance away. There is no animal which hunts its prey near the habitation of man which seems to weigh conditions before making an attack as does the tiger. If things do not exactly suit his liking, no amount of coaxing with a live bait will, tempt him to venture into the open.
One handsome tigress lay for three hours in plain view on a grassy terrace a few hundred yards from the bleating goat without offering to attack. When she finally made up her mind, she moved rapidly forward along a trail until within striking distance, when she was dropped with a single shot.
An experience I had in April, 1910, illustrates this point. I had led a goat into a ravine where a tiger was known to be which had been working havoc among the herds of the farmers. A day or two previous to my hunt it had attacked a herd of cows, killing three, but abandoning them upon hearing voices several hundreds of yards away.
Upon the occasion of my hunt the great cat suspected mischief and moved with caution. Advancing along a covered trail to within thirty yards of the goat, he halted to make a survey before the final dash. Peering into a valley he saw two men cutting grass more than five hundred yards away. Apparently fearful lest he expose himself, the huge beast, after taking in the situation for a time, turned and vanished noiselessly in the bush. I made this study from a blind of grass not more than fifty feet from the tiger. It is when close enough to study the very expression on the face, so to speak, that one feels repaid for risk and effort.
A few days later this same tiger awaited an opportunity to attack the cow with which a farmer was plowing his field. The farmer had unhitched his cow from the yoke and was squatted upon a dyke not ten yards away eating a midday lunch when the tiger charged from the nearby brush, killing the cow where it stood behind the man. All of which went to show how daring the animal may sometimes be when it can strike from behind.
On several occasions I have known a tiger to attack a goat or cow being led by a tether-rope, killing it instantly, while the man leading the animal was frantically tugging at the other end of the rope. Both tiger and leopard frequently rush a dog or pig standing inside the open door of a house amid all the confusion common to a Chinese home. In practically every instance of this kind which has come under my observation, the animal has been killed, though the tiger has not always succeeded in carrying it away.
Daring strategy and slinking cowardice characterize the tiger as perhaps no other animal of the wilds. Often after securing his victim, courage seems to fail and he abandons the kill, bounding off into the nearest bush.
Two men hunting deer not far from my home disturbed a large tiger from its bed. The animal made a dash at the man standing nearest in line with its path of retreat, seized him by the lower leg, and dragged him into the ravine below. Luckily, the man succeeded in grasping a small tree, whereupon the tiger released his hold, leaving the man almost paralyzed with pain and fear.
At a point near Futsing city a group of men gathering fuel on the hills routed out a tiger on a grass-covered terrace. The enraged animal turned upon the group, crushing the skull and neck of two and striking the third a blow which landed him lifeless on the terrace below. The animal did not attempt to drag any of the dead men into the cover.
Near Yenping City a father and his small son were walking along a trail in 1920 when a notoriously fierce man-eater attacked the lad, fixing his strong fangs in the skull, and made off into the brush. The hysterical father followed the tiger, shouting and calling for help. After making good an escape, the tiger released the boy, not offering to attack the father. The animal followed a path around a hill where a man was working in his field two hundred yards away. He killed this man but made no attempt either to devour him or to drag him away.
The strength and vitality of a full grown man-eater is amazing. I had an occasion to spend a night in a village where a tiger had performed some wonderful feats. Just at dusk he entered the village and located a cow and yearling calf in a pen adjoining a house against the hill. This pen had been made by excavating the hill, and could be entered only through a door from the back of the house. The tiger lunged from above into the pen and killed the heifer, attracting the attention of the inmates of the home, who raised a great commotion and threw open the door into the cow pen just in time to see the tiger and his kill disappear with one graceful leap to the top of the embankment. There was no way for the tiger to get the heifer out of the pen except by throwing it out bodily or by leaping out with it in its mouth, either of which courses required a great deal of strength. I measured this embankment and found it to be twelve feet high.
The same tiger attacked a hog dressing two hundred pounds and made away with it a distance of more than half a mile before being overtaken. When the hog was found it had no wounds or bruises except the deep fang wound in the neck. Evidently, courage had again failed after the brute had made well away with his kill. The villagers declare that when a tiger is making off with a heavy load he seldom attempts to drag his prey, but throws across the back bodily and rushes off with grace and ease.
One of the finest trophies I ever took around Foochow was killed in May, 1910. This beast had but a few hours before killed and eaten a sixteen-year-old boy. I happened to be passing through the country, and decided to attempt to dispose of the troublesome creature. Securing a goat with two small kids I worked my way well into the lair to a point near where the boy had been eaten. The goat was tied in the open at a safe distance from any; path, while the kids were put in a large basket and buried in the grass well up in the lair near where the two trails crossed.
The very fact that when hunting tigers in this way one at all times feels he perhaps is himself being stalked adds a great deal to the hunt and keeps one upon his mettle. To relax even a little in one's vigil might prove disastrous. I was very much upon my guard during this particular hunt, taking every precaution to forestall any surprise attack. Being well acquainted with the paths and trails of the lair, I was comparatively safe unless I made some foolish blunder. My thought was that the tiger would approach stealthily along some one of the trails so long as he could not see his prey, and it was for this reason I buried the basket containing the kids in the grass, for it would be necessary for me to shoot the tiger at very close range, and it was to my advantage to have his attention riveted in the direction of the bleating kids. It was upon these calculations alone that I could hope for a successful shot.
Approach as he might, the animal would have to be within twenty yards of me before I could see him. For more than two hours I sat perfectly still, waiting, alert to every movement or sound, and concealed only by a frail blind of grass and ferns. There was nothing to break the awful silence other than the incessant bleating of the goats supplemented by the unpleasant rasping call of the bamboo partridge from the bush. The tension was so great at times that the crawling of black ants in the dry leaves sounded like the moving of some large animal in the brush.
Hope had about given way to despair when suddenly there emerged from the overhanging grass the huge head of the man-eater exactly where I had figured he would appear, and not to exceed fifteen yards from me. Within fifteen feet of the kids he was stealthily moving forward, with head, neck and back in about the same plane. I had seen a number of tigers in the wild, but never an animal even approaching this big cat, just a few yards away, intent, alert, but heedless to all else save the locating of the bleating kids. I have often wondered what would have happened if this animal had suddenly spied me crouching in the grass so near him.
I would have given a great deal to have been in a position to permit this study to go on a little further, but it seemed important that I kill the animal before he killed me. Though I had implicit confidence in the gun I was using, I realized how dangerous a proposition it is to come to quarters in such a tangle with such an animal as was before me.
Raising my rifle I took hurried aim and fired. The sportsman can find no other occasion to pull the trigger where there is such an attending thrill as when tiger hunting under such conditions. At the crack of the gun the huge beast settled forward with hardly a struggle, within a few feet of the kids he had located and upon which he was about to spring. The animal proved to be a handsome male weighing a little more than four hundred pounds.
Upon hearing the shot and being assured that the tiger was dead the villagers swarmed into the ravine, each eager not only to see their tormentor dead, but to gather up the blood. In fact, but little attention was paid to the tiger until every available drop of blood had been sopped up with rags torn from the clothing, while men and children almost fought for the blood-stained grass. The blood of a tiger is very highly prized for two purposes. A bit of blood-stained rag is worn about the neck of a child as prevention against attack by measles or smallpox devils. And, too, it is claimed that a bloodstained handkerchief or rag waved in front of an attacking dog will flag the animal, causing it to turn tail and retreat.
I recall what happened only a short distance from where I was behind a blind waiting for a tiger. Instead of attacking the goat, which had doubtless attracted the tiger to the spot by its incessant bleating, the beast attacked a cow feeding in the open. Two little shepherd boys who were sitting upon the top of a big rock playing "Jack-stones" raised a murderous yell which aroused a cur asleep at the base of the rock. The dog rushed off in the direction of the cow, which was down and struggling with a broken neck, and, before realizing what the real trouble was, came fairly upon the tiger, which had retreated a few yards and was standing under a little cover. Upon seeing the tiger, the dog turned to run, bounding wildly part way across an open space to fall prostrate from fright, dying where it fell.
Chinese hunters have been much interested in what I have told them about the proposed expedition after the so-called "Blue Tiger" with a pack of American bear hounds, declaring that the tiger would only revel in slaughter if surrounded by attacking dogs. It must be remembered that the favorite food of tiger is dog flesh, and it would first become necessary to educate the animal a little concerning both the vicious attack and method of defense of the trained American hunting dog. My opinion is that any pack of dogs would suffer terribly while this schooling was going on. If I had a pack of ever so well trained dogs I would much prefer letting them give vent to their pent-up energies by chasing mountain lions than by loosing the leash after a tiger amid such surroundings as the tangled and grass covered terraces of Fukien Mountains.
That Chinese dogs are cowed at the very scent of a tiger is evident. When taking a fine tiger specimen to Foochow on a steam launch I saw a well-dressed literati come forward and sop up the blood oozing out upon the deck with a silk handkerchief. Seeing that I was much interested in what he was doing, the scholar said to me, in a rather apologetic manner, "Teacher, I can turn the attack of the fiercest dog by waving this bloody handkerchief in front of him."
From the Chinese point of view the skin is not the most valuable part of a tiger. Almost always before a tiger hunt or drive is made, or before a pen or pit is prepared for trapping an animal, the hunters burn incense and offer sacrifices before the gods in a temple, or at some shrine, and solemn covenant is entered into to the effect that if the hunt is successful the skin of the trophy becomes the property of the god. Thus it happens that in many temples may be found handsome tiger-skin robes spread in the chair occupied by some god having to do with the chase. Both the god known as "Duai Uong," or god of the land or place, and the "Pearly Emperor" have thus become the possessors of far too many handsome tiger and leopard skins.
The flesh of the big cat is very valuable for medicinal purposes. When a hunt is successful it often happens that several cows are killed and the flesh mixed with that of the tiger, all then being sold at the exorbitant price which is cheerfully paid for tiger meat.
The bones of a tiger are boiled for a number of days until a gelatine-like mass is produced. This is sold at very high prices as an exceptionally efficacious medicine. I have often been urged by interested professional friends to take a little of this product to strengthen me for my long tramps over the mountains, being assured that a piece as large as a bean mixed in a cup of tea would serve as guaranteed insurance against becoming fatigued even during the most trying tramps.
The results of the few days I have been permitted to spend at intervals and under varied conditions studying the tiger in his habitat have produced in me a profound respect for the brute, even though he be a thieving man-eater. His Majesty of the Wilds is quite a different proposition from the cowed and inert tiger of the zoo.