The official statistics for British India only (the native states not included) for the ten years named are as follows: 

Killed by wild animals and snakes.

Persons    Cattle
1892                21,988    81,688
1893                24,016    90,253
1894                24,449    96,796
1895                25,190   100,107
1896                24,322    88,702
1897                25,242    84,187
1898                25,166    91,750
1899                27,585    98,687
1900                25,833    91,430
1901                26,461    88,019
-------   -------
Total ten years    250,252   907,619

Taking 1901 as a sample, I find that 1,171 persons were killed by tigers and 29,333 cattle; 635 persons and 37,473 cattle were killed by leopards; 403 human beings and 5,048 cattle were killed by wolves; 1,442 human beings and 9,123 cattle were killed by other wild animals, and 22,810 human beings and 5,002 cattle by snakes.  This is about the average record for the ten years, although the number of persons killed by tigers in 1901-2 was considerably less than usual.

The largest sacrifice of life was in the Province of Bengal, of which Calcutta is the capital, and where the imperial authorities have immediate control of such affairs.  The government offers a bounty of $1 for every snake skin, $5 for every tiger skin, and a corresponding amount for other animals.  During 1901-2, 14,301 wild animals were reported killed and 96,953 persons received rewards.  The number of snakes reported destroyed was 69,668 and 2,858 persons were rewarded.  The total amount of rewards paid was $33,270, which is much below the average and the smallest amount reported for many years.  During the last ten years the amount of rewards paid has averaged about $36,000 annually.  The falling off in 1901-2 is due to the discovery that certain enterprising persons had gone into the business of breeding snakes for the reward, and had been collecting considerable sums from the government by that sort of fraud.  Hereafter no one will be able to collect claims without showing satisfactory evidence that the snakes were actually wild when killed or captured.  It is hardly necessary to say that no one has thus far been accused of breeding tigers for the bounty, although large numbers of natives are engaged in the business of capturing them for menageries and zoological gardens.

In the maharaja’s park at Jeypore we saw a dozen or more splendid man-eating tigers, which, the keeper told us, had been captured recently only twelve miles from that city.  His Highness keeps a staff of tiger hunters and catchers for amusement.  He delights in shooting big game, and several times a year goes into the jungles with his native hunters and parties of friends and seldom returns without several fine skins to add to his collection.  His tiger catchers remain in the woods all the time, and he has a pleasant