The Royal Tigers of Bengal

In the following pages it is proposed to give a sketch of the natural history and habits of the largest and most powerful of the cat tribe, which from its size, strength, ferocity, and beauty, claims supremacy over all congeners, not expecting even the lion, and is, therefore, well entitled to the epithet Royal bestowed by naturalists.
Having seen something of the tiger in his home, and not unfrequently encountered him in his native swamps and jungle, the description will involve not merely a zoological definition, but also an account of his habits and mode of life, as well as of his death.
The purpose is, in short, to consider him from a field naturalist's point of view. It may be well to begin by stating the tiger's position in the scale of animal life.