d for a long distance, but it is by no means universally so. Not long
ago the remains of a young boy were found in a grave adjacent to a tiger's
lair a few miles from Futsing city. No child had been reported missing in
the immediate neighborhood and everything indicated that the boy had been
brought alive to this spot from a considerable distance. The sides of the
grave were besmeared with the blood of the unfortunate victim, indicating
that the tiger had tortured it just as a cat plays with a mouse as long as
it remains alive.

"In the lair of a tiger there are certain terraces, or places under
overhanging trees, which are covered with bones, and are evidently spots to
which the animal brings its prey to be devoured. On such a terrace one will
find the remains of deer, wild hog, dog, pig, porcupine, pangolin, and
other animals both domestic and wild. A fresh kill shows that with its
rasp-like tongue the tiger licks off all the hair of its prey before
devouring it and the hair will be found in a circle around what remains of
the kill. The Chinese often raid a lair in order to gather up the quills of
the porcupine and the bony scales of the pangolin which are esteemed for
medicinal purposes.

"In addition to the larger animals, tigers feed upon reptiles and frogs
which they find among the rice fields. On the night of April 22, 1914, a
party of frog catchers were returning from a hunt when the man carrying the
load of frogs was attacked by a tiger and killed. The animal made no
attempt to drag the man away and it would appear that it was attracted by
the croaking of the frogs."

"One often finds trees 'marked' by tigers beside some trail or path in, or
adjacent to, a lair. Catlike, the tiger measures its full length upon a
tree, standing in a convenient place, and with its powerful claws rips
deeply through the bark. This sign is doubly interesting to the sportsman
as it not only indicates the presence of a tiger in the immediate vicinity
but serves to give an accurate idea as to the size of the beast. The trails
leading into a lair often are marked in a different way. In doing this the
animal rakes away the grass with a forepaw and gathers it into a pile, but
claw prints never appear."

CHAPTER VII

THE BLUE TIGER

After one has traveled in a Chinese _sampan_ for several days the prospect
of a river journey is not very alluring but we had a most agreeable
surprise when we sailed out of Foochow in a chartere