Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c9.s24.14

c9.s24.14

The tiger itself the Greeks naturally had little chance of coming across. Nearchus saw the skin of a tiger, but not a live animal. He heard, however, that it equalled in size the largest horse, but for swiftness and strength no other animal could be compared to it; that the tiger when it encountered the elephant, leapt upon the head of the elephant and strangled it with ease; and that the animals usually seen and designated tigers were but jackals with spotted skins and larger than other jackals—which, of course, is a quaint description of leopards. According to Megasthenes the largest tigers were found in the country of the Prasii, almost twice the size of lions. He once saw a tame tiger led by four men, seizing a mule, overpowering it and dragging it to him, all by its hind leg; such was the strength of the animal¹.