“That is a very good plan, Uncle Thomas, and does not seem to be attended with much danger, if the cage be strong enough.”

“No, Boys, it is not very dangerous, but I don’t think any of you would like to trust yourselves so exposed.  Here, however, is another mode of destroying the tiger, which is practised in some parts of India.

“The track of a tiger being ascertained, which though not invariably the same, may yet be known sufficiently for the purpose, the peasants collect a quantity of the leaves of the prous, which are like those of the sycamore, and are common in most underwoods, as they form the largest portion of most jungles in India.  These leaves are smeared with a species of bird-lime, made by bruising the berries of a tree by no means scarce.  They are then strewed, with the gluten uppermost, near to the spot to which it is understood the tiger usually retires during noon-tide heat.  If by chance the animal should tread on one of these smeared leaves his fate is certain.  He commences by shaking his paw, with the view to remove the adhesive incumbrance, but finding no relief from that expedient, he rubs the nuisance against his jaw with the same intention, by which means his eyes, ears, &c. become covered with the same substance.  This occasions such uneasiness as causes him to roll perhaps among many more smeared leaves, till at length he becomes completely enveloped, and he is deprived of sight, and in this situation may be compared to a man who has been tarred and feathered.  The anxiety produced by this strange and novel predicament, soon discovers itself in dreadful howlings, which serve to call the watchful peasants, who in this disabled state find no difficulty in shooting the object of detestation.”

“That is better still, Uncle Thomas; I think that is the most ingenious way of catching an animal that I ever heard of.”

“I must now tell you something about the puma or American lion, which is also taken in a very ingenious manner by the natives of South America.  It is generally hunted by means of dogs.  When they unkennel a lion or a tiger, they pursue him till he stops to defend himself.  The hunter, who is mounted on a good steed, follows close behind, and if the dogs seize upon the animal, the hunter jumps off his horse, and, while the lion is engaged in contending with the dogs, strikes him on the head, and thus dispatches him.  If, however, the dogs are afraid to attack him, the hunter uses his lasso, dexterously fixes it round some part of the animal, and gallops away, dragging it after him.  The dogs now rush in and tear him, when he is soon dispatched.