No. XVIII
In this plate the ideas of expeditious motion, and quest, are admirably depicted:—kept up from stem to stern; he is evidently bent on destruction.—This is he that appeared to the terrified imagination of Collins’s Oriental camel-driver, who, in his beautiful Eclogue, exclaims—
“What, if the Lion in his rage I meet!”
And the determined purpose which pervades the whole frame and the mind of the sallying hero, is seen in his resolute look, as well as in every motion of his muscular limbs—aye, to the very tuft at the extremity of his tail. All is expressive of his plenitude of animation, and prey is obviously his purpose. None can mistake him.
This will probably be thought another of the instances in which the present artists have been eminently successful in the execution of their subject. (For the design they were indebted to the etching-needle of Ridinger.) The shag of the mane is characteristically varied from the short hair which covers the face, body, and limbs; the anatomy is ably indicated; and the chiaroscuro is vigorous.
The hunters say that a dozen or fifteen dogs, trained to the sport, will overpower a Lion before he can strike many blows: but these are the limbs which “at every blow destroy an enemy.”
We have next to treat of the Royal Tiger of Bengal, beautiful, powerful, fierce, and unrelenting.—Terrible, yet admirable!
Mr. Bewick says that the Tiger “is the most rapacious and destructive of all carnivorous animals. Fierce without provocation, and cruel without necessity, its thirst for blood is insatiable. Though glutted with slaughter, it continues its carnage; it fears neither the sight nor the opposition of man, whom it frequently makes its prey; and it is even said to prefer human flesh to that of any other animal:” a fact which is confirmed by Colonel Williamson, and Mr. Paul of Daudpore, the latter of whom has the reputation of having killed as many Tigers as any hundred other men in India.
The strength of this animal is so great, that when it has killed a Deer, it carries it off with much ease. Wood relates a story, on good authority, of a Buffalo being carried off by one; but it had previously refreshed itself by sucking the Buffalo’s blood. The latter had been hampered, and was weakened by its struggles in a quagmire; and the Tiger let fall its prey, and fled at the approach of some Indian peasants. We must suppose, too, this Tiger to have been one of the largest, and of extraordinary power, for Colonel Williamson reports that in the public combats that are sometimes exhibited in India, between Tigers and Buffaloes, the latter is commonly the victor.
But the eagerness of its voracity is believed to transcend that of any other creature whatever. If undisturbed at the commencement of its meal, it plunges its head into the body of its reeking victim, up to the very eyes, in order to glut itself with the bloody enjoyment. Oysters are not opened and swallowed with more zest and avidity.
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