ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - THE TIGER (Panthera tigris)

[peter]

ABOUT A FIGHT BETWEEN TWO BULLS, ONE OF WHICH WAS A TIGER - III

The book of Knowles, as said before, has 24 stories. Although many of them would be headed under 'uncanny', they really happened. Knowles just reported on what he saw with his own eyes.

Today, life has become quite predictable, but back then they said you never knew what would happen. The main reason for the change between then and now is us. In the twenties of the last century, British India, larger than India today, had close to 350 million people. Today, India has at least 1,2 billion.

When humans took over, wild country quickly disappeared. And so did the animals, the forest spirits and a dimension difficult to describe. All in all, about 90-95% of the old world was lost. It was replaced by us and everything we stand for. As humans are one and the same all over the planet and most of us are governed by a few things only, the world has become very flat in more than one way. Another result is differences between regions have disappeared. Seen one tree, seen 'm all, my uncle said. Seen one region, seen 'm all, I would add.               

So what about these old books and the world we lost? I'd say they represent something most of us do not know, let alone understand. This is the main reason the old boys are largely dismissed. If we want to give those that are no longer heard a voice, we need to start with the world that was lost. For this reason, I will post on things considered more or less typical a century ago.  

Before I do, I want to talk about a few things I consider more or less typical for the world that was lost. Below, you'll find an overview of a few things that stuck. I'll start with elephants.    

e - Elephants

In the 30 years he was in India, Knowles visited northern India in particular. If you was invited for a party (usually a shoot) in that part of India and wanted to hunt, you needed elephants. Well-trained elephants. As this usually took many years, trained elephants and experienced mahouts were in great demand. 

Elephants were described as very sensitive animals. And unpredictable. They would stand firm in times of danger, but they could also panic for no reason at all. Just just never knew. They also didn't like their wild relatives. Wild elephants were considered as dangerous by many. The reason was males. Every wild herd usually had a male close by most of the time. At times the herd attracted more than one male. If males were not in musth, they were either preparing for battle or recovering from one. As a result of their attitude, bulls often got into conflicts with other animals. And humans.

Roque elephants feature in 6 of the 24 stories, meaning they were not scarce at all. Every region had a few. A century ago, they were considered a very real danger for those living in or close to the immense forests. Knowles, more than once, had very narrow escapes and I mean narrow. In this respect, he compared to Corbett and Kenneth Anderson.

Elephants, in spite of their great frame and weight, are very difficult to find. A big bull with a grudge is a dangerous animal. And in stalking, he's second to none. More than once, Knowles and his companions, very experienced woodsmen, were completely surprised by a rogue. With surprise, I mean that the roque had approached unseen to within a few yards. Without their rifles, they had no option but to sit it out, knowing that each wrong move would be the last one. At times, they were saved by their presence of mind and at times they were saved by fate. On one occasion, a man responsible for the buffalo's prevented a sure attack.

The relation between elephants and tigers is difficult to describe. Most wild elephants are afraid of tigers. With good reason. Male tigers often followed herds to kill young elephants. These experienced males also attacked immatures and adult females. Male elephants, on the other hand, would stand up to them. When they got a chance to stalk them, it was curtains for the tiger. But when things went wrong, the table was turned. Some fights were witnessed and they were terrible. In many cases, the elephant didn't die directly, but from the infection. When they fought elephants, tigers tried to get between their legs. When they couldn't, they attacked the front legs and the trunk.  

In one of the stories ('Comedy and tragedy in the jungles'), Knowles and another hunter, a Mrs. B., were waiting for a very large male tiger in a machan. The bait, a buffalo, was surprised by a herd of wild elephants and became entangled in the rope. Knowles climbed down to help him, but the buffalo wouldn't let him come close. While he was at it, the tiger made an early appearance. Knowles saw the huge male from twenty yards or so. As he didn't have his rifle and wasn't able to get back to the machan, he was dependant on Mrs. B. Then the thunderstorm he hadn't seen unleashed. At the same moment, the herd of wild elephants returned. This time, there was a big bull with them. The tiger and the bull had met that very morning. When the forest was pitch black and lightning struck, Mrs. B. shot the tiger in the shoulder. The tiger immediately attacked the young buffalo, who, according to Knowles, was completely destroyed. While this was happening, the machan was nearly blown apart by the storm. While Mrs. B. was clinging to the tree with everything she had, the rifles came crashing down. At that moment, the bull elephant attacked the tiger. The tiger got away, but turned to attack him when he, severely wounded by the bullit in his shoulder, collapsed. The bull pinned the wounded tiger to the ground and gored him. After trampling his body, he, for some reason, forgot about Knowles and Mrs. B. and returned to the forest. A very narrow escape.

Other stories about roques were more tense, because they, like man-eating tigers, really stalked and hunted humans. In 'A roque elephant', Knowles described how a rogue had surprised and terrified his sisters and two of his friends when they were walking in the forest. He heard them scream and ran to their assistence. The problem was he, like the others, didn't have his rifle with him. He only had a stick and used it to keep the giant at bay. Step by step, the elephant was pushed back, but only a few yards. For some minutes, the status quo didn't change. Than local people spotted the elephant. They knew him, started screaming and ran. The bull went after them and got a man, who was torn apart, limb by limb. Knowles saw it, but could do nothing. The sword of fate is indiscriminate, but it seems to spare those able to keep their nerve more often than not. 

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