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

[peter]

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Meet Col. F.T. Pollok. He was involved in roads, a century and a half ago. Burma, to be exact. Lower Burma. He didn't want to leave Burma, but they wanted him in Assam. Assam had been acquired after the Burmese War (1824-1826) and they wanted to develop this wild place. In order to do so, roads were needed. And Pollok was the man for the job. 

Because of the lack of roads, Pollok insisted on elephants when he arrived in Assam. He got them (four, to be precise) and bought two extra for himself. Sports and all that. Never drank a drop of spirits and no smokes too, for the climate was such that it would result in a quick downfall. He saw it all too often.

He was there for quite some time and saw a lot of sport. At the turn of the century, he decided to write a book with his friend W.S. Thom, who had also served in Burma. Thom later wrote an article about sport in Burma. It was published in the JBNHS.

The book has good information about Burma and Assam a century and a half ago. The people, their habits, roads and, of course, sport. Considering the time and the other books I saw, I was surprised about the quality of the photographs.

Any ten-footers in those days? Yes. The longest Pollok shot himself was 10.2. The only record of one longer he accepted was from an authority. That tiger was 10.4. From memory, I think it was a tiger shot in Burma.

In January 1870, Pollok shot a 10.1 (307,34 cm.) tiger close to the Manas river. He was so heavy, that 15 men were needed to lift him on to the pad. His skin was 13.4 (403, 87 cm.)! I don't know if this is the skin, but the photograph was close to the part on the giant tiger. I assume it was him:

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So Pollok shot a tiger of ten feet one in January 1870? Measured 'over curves', no doubt? No. Pollok and Thom measured tiger 'between pegs'.

In those days (second half of the 19th century), they measured tigers 'between pegs'? Yes. Pollok wrote more books. In the one I read, he underlined tigers had to be measured 'between pegs'. In his article on Burma tigers, Thom also wrote the tigers he shot had been measured 'between pegs'.  

Here's another photograph with tiger skins from the same book. I again don't know if the 13.4 skin was included, but I think it was for the same reason as above. Watch the man on the right. Also watch a number of skins in the left. They were not as short as it seems:

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One more to finish with. This is a photograph of a large tiger padded. It was close to the text on the giant tiger in the book, but I don't know if it was the giant tiger. I think not, but it was a large tiger anyhow:

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