It is under the superintendence of the Political
Agent of Baghelkhand, resident at Riwa.
7. This pass is sixty-three miles south-east of Allahabad, on the
road from that city to Riwa.
8. These myths are based on the well-known facts that man-eating
tigers are few, and exceptionally wary and cunning. The conditions
which predispose a tiger to man-eating have been much discussed. It
seems to be established that the animals which seek human prey are
generally, though not invariably, those which, owing to old wounds or
other physical defects, are unable to attack with confidence the
stronger animals. The conversations given in the text are excellent
illustrations of the mode of formation of modern myths, and of the
kind of reasoning which satisfies the mind of the unconscious myth-
maker.
The text may be compared with the following passage from the _Journey
through the Kingdom of Oudh_ (vol. i, p. 124): 'I asked him (the Raja
of Balrampur), whether the people in the Tarai forest were still
afraid to point out tigers to sportsmen. "I was lately out with a
party after a tiger", he said, "which had killed a cowherd, but his
companions refused to point out any trace of him, saying that their
relative's spirit must be now riding upon his head, to guide him from
all danger, and we should have no chance of shooting him.
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