Abstract
Were-Tigers in India.—In Man for October, Mr. L. A. Cammiade points out that in an article appearing recently in the Illustrated London News, and describing the killing of a man-eating tiger which had been responsible for the deaths of more than thirty people, there are indications that, all unknown to the hunter, Mr. L. Handley, the tiger he was hunting was, in the opinion of the jungle people, the Gonds, a man who by magical means had assumed that form for nefarious ends. Thus, although the Gonds are normally quite unafraid of tigers, they deserted Mr. Handley when he was approaching the place in the jungle where the body of a woman was being devoured. They would not follow the blood trail except in a crowd and with the beating of drums and letting off of fireworks. This would have frustrated his object had the tiger been an ordinary beast; but is intelligible as against witchcraft. In one case the body was placed in a tree after recovery; but this is a practice of the Koi and Konda Reddis, neighbouring jungle tribes, in similar cases. For some unknown reason the body must not rest on the ground. Mr. Handley would not be aware of the Gonds' belief, as to voice their suspicion above a whisper, even among themselves, might be followed by murder. Mr. Cammiade also points out that the deities “who have to be propitiated after the killing of the tiger”, according to Mr. Handley's account, judging from their appearance, are not tiger deities but more probably the images of notable ancestors to whom an offering of thanksgiving was made for delivery from the were-tiger. Tiger deities would have to be propitiated, and consent obtained before any action was taken; while it is customary to ask the ancestors for protection on a journey through the jungle and for success in disposing of merchandise at its end.
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Research Items. Nature 128, 728–729 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/128728a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/128728a0