The great and small game of India, Burma, & Tibet . olour of the fur of Indian tigers,and occasionally specimens are met with in which the whole colour iscreamy buff, with the stripes only showing somewhat darker in certainlights. Unfortunately, in most instances at any rate, there is no informa-tion as to whether these white tigers were true albinoes. A white tiger was exhibited alive at Exeter Change about 1820,while a second was killed at Poona about 1892. In March 1899 a whitetiger was shot in Upper Assam and the skin sent to Calcutta, where yetanother specimen was received about the same
The great and small game of India, Burma, & Tibet . olour of the fur of Indian tigers,and occasionally specimens are met with in which the whole colour iscreamy buff, with the stripes only showing somewhat darker in certainlights. Unfortunately, in most instances at any rate, there is no informa-tion as to whether these white tigers were true albinoes. A white tiger was exhibited alive at Exeter Change about 1820,while a second was killed at Poona about 1892. In March 1899 a whitetiger was shot in Upper Assam and the skin sent to Calcutta, where yetanother specimen was received about the same time. In regard to theformer specimen, now the property of Mr. W. J. Consadine, Major C. Swayne, by whom it was seen, wrote to the publisher as follows :— The colour of the skin is like that of a polar bear, with the faintestlines to indicate stripes. The ground-colour is bright creamy white,exactly like a polar bear ; the darker lines, representing stripes, are aboutthe dull white of a rather dirty white cat which has been out all night on. Fig. 55.—White Tiger O 282 Great and Small Game of India, etc. the roof. The present writer subsequently saw this interesting specimen,as well as another belonging to the Maharaja of Kuch Behar. Many years ago a perfectly black tiger was found lying dead nearChittagong. A subject which has been fertile in more or less unprofitable dis-cussion is the maximum length attained by the Indian tiger. In thiscase, as in the instances of the height of elephants and the length ofwhales, there is no doubt that in the old days—whether from carelessmeasurements or otherwise, we need not pause to inquire — grosslyexaggerated ideas were prevalent. But when close criticism was broughtto bear on the question there seems equally little doubt that, as in theother cases instanced, scepticism was pushed too far, and the maximumdimensions underrated. Unfortunately, the measurement of length isnot always taken in the same manner, it being some
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