Jim Corbett - Temple Tiger. Jim Corbett - Kumaon cannibals The most famous cannibal hunter in India

Jim Corbett

TEMPLE TIGER

INSTEAD OF EPIGRAPHS

1. “Soon, the tiger extended its paw forward, followed by another, then very slowly, without lifting its belly from the ground, pulled itself up to the prey. After lying motionless for several minutes, still not taking his eyes off me, he felt the tail of a cow with his lips, bit it off, put it aside and began to eat ... The rifle lay on my knees with the barrel in the direction where the tiger was, I just had to raise it to my shoulder . I could do it if the tiger took his eyes off me for a moment. But he was aware of the danger that threatened him and, without taking his eyes off me, slowly, but non-stop, ate.

2. “... a group of twelve Europeans with battle rifles passed me by. A few minutes later they were followed by a sergeant and two soldiers with flags and targets for shooting. The sergeant, a kind soul, informed me that the people who had just passed were heading to the training ground and that they were holding together because of the cannibals.

3. "In general, tigers, except for the wounded and cannibals, are very good-natured."

J. Corbett. "Temple Tiger"

TEMPLE TIGER

Anyone who has never lived in the Himalayas does not realize how great the power of superstition over people in this sparsely populated area. But various kinds of beliefs professed by educated inhabitants of the valleys and foothills differ little from the superstitions of simple illiterate highlanders. In fact, the difference is so small that it is difficult to decide where belief ends and superstition begins. Therefore, I would ask the reader, if he has a desire to laugh at the ingenuousness of the participants in the event about which I am going to tell, to wait and try to establish whether the superstitions I have described differ in any way from the dogmas of the religion in which he was brought up.

So, after the First World War, Robert Ballears and I hunted in the interior of Kumaon. On a September evening we camped at the foot of Trisul, just at the place where, we were told, eight hundred goats are sacrificed every year to the spirit of that mountain. There were fifteen highlanders with us. Never before on a hunt have I had to deal with such cheerful and zealous people in the performance of their duties. One of them, Bala Singh, a Garwalian I have known for a number of years, has accompanied me on many expeditions. He was especially proud of the fact that during the hunt he carried the heaviest bale of my luggage and, stepping ahead, cheering the others with singing. In the evenings at halts, before going to bed, our people always sang around the fire. That first evening at the foot of Trisul they sat longer than usual. We could hear singing, clapping hands, shouting and banging on cans.

We decided in advance to stop at this place in order to hunt tars, so we were extremely surprised when, sitting down for breakfast in the morning, we saw that our people were preparing to break camp. When asked to explain what was the matter, they replied that this site was not suitable for a camp, that it was damp, the water was undrinkable, fuel was difficult to obtain, and that, finally, there was a better place two miles away.

My luggage had been carried the day before by six Garhwalians. I noticed that now things are packed in five bales, and Bala Singh is sitting by the fire separately from everyone else with a blanket thrown over his head and shoulders. After breakfast I went to him. The others stopped their work and began to watch us with intense attention. Bala Singh saw me approaching, but did not even try to say hello (which was unusual for him) and answered all my questions only that he was not sick. We made the two-mile march that day in complete silence. Bala Singh brought up the rear and moved like sleepwalkers or drugged people.

What happened to Bala Singh also depressed the other fourteen people, they worked without their usual enthusiasm, tension and fear froze on their faces. While we were setting up the tent in which Robert and I lived, I took aside my Garhwal servant Moti Singh - I had known him for twenty-five years - and demanded that he tell me what had happened to Bala Singh. Moti shied away from answering for a long time, saying something incomprehensible, but in the end I pulled a confession out of him.

As we sat by the fire last night and sang, said Moti Singh, the spirit of Trisul jumped into Bala Singh's mouth and he swallowed it. Everyone started shouting and hitting tin cans to exorcise the spirit, but we didn't succeed, and now there's nothing to be done.

Bala Singh sat to one side, the blanket still covering his head. He couldn't hear my conversation with Moti Singh, so I approached him and asked him to tell me what had happened to him the night before. Bala Singh looked at me for a moment with despairing eyes, then said hopelessly:

It is useless to tell you, Sahib, what happened last night: you will not believe me.

Didn't I ever believe you? I asked.

No, he replied, you have always believed me, but you will not understand this.

Understand or not, I still want you to tell me in detail what happened.

After a long pause, Bala Singh replied:

Okay, Sahib, I'll tell you. You know that when our mountain songs are sung, usually one person sings, and all the rest pick up the chorus in unison. So, last night I sang a song, and the spirit of Trisul jumped into my mouth and, although I tried to push it out, slipped through my throat into my stomach. The fire burned brightly, and everyone saw how I struggled with the spirit; the rest also tried to drive him away, shouting and hitting the cans, but,” he added with a sob, “the spirit did not want to leave.

Where is the spirit now? I asked.

Putting his hand on his stomach, Bala Singh said with conviction:

He is here, Sahib. I feel him tossing and turning.

Robert explored the area west of the camp all day and killed one of the Tars he encountered. After dinner we sat up into the night discussing the situation. For many months we have been planning and dreaming about this hunt. Robert is seven and I have been on foot for ten days on difficult roads to the hunting place, and on the very first evening upon arrival here, Bala Singh swallows the spirit of Trisul. It doesn't matter what Robert and I thought about it. Another thing was important - our people believed that the spirit was really in the stomach of Bala Singh, so they shunned him in fear. It is clear that hunting in such conditions was impossible. So Robert, though very reluctantly, agreed that I should return with Bala Singh to Naini Tal. The next morning, having packed my things, I had breakfast with Robert and went back to Naini Tal. The journey there was supposed to take ten days.

Leaving Naini Tal, thirty-year-old Bala Singh was a cheerful and full of energy man. Now he returned silent, with an extinct look, and his appearance spoke of the fact that he had completely lost interest in life. My sisters - one of them was on a mission to help medical care They did everything they could for him. He was visited by friends, both those who came from afar, and those who lived nearby, but he sat indifferently at the door of his house and spoke only when he was addressed. At my request, he was visited by the district doctor of Naini-Tala, Colonel Cook, a man great experience and a close friend of our family. After a long and careful examination, he declared that Bala Singh was physically perfectly healthy, and he could not determine the cause of his apparent depression.

A few days later, an idea struck me. At that time, a famous Indian doctor was in Naini Tal. I thought that if I could persuade him to examine Bala Singh and only then, after telling about what had happened, ask him to suggest to the "sick" that there was no spirit in his stomach, the doctor would be able to help the trouble. This seemed all the more feasible since the doctor not only professed Hinduism, but was himself a highlander. My calculation was wrong. As soon as the doctor saw the "patient", he immediately suspected something was wrong. And when, from the answers to his cunning questions, he learned from Bala Singh that the spirit of Trisul was in his stomach, he hastily recoiled from him and, turning to me, said:

I am very sorry that you sent for me. I can't do anything for him.

In Naini Tala there were two people from the village where Bala Singh lived. The next day I sent for them. They knew what had happened because they visited Bala Singh several times, and at my request they agreed to take him home. I provided them with money, and the next morning all three set out on their eight-day journey. Three weeks later Bala Singh's countrymen returned and told me what had happened.

Bala Singh reached the village safely. On the first evening after arriving home, when relatives and friends gathered around him, he announced that the spirit wanted to be freed and return to Trisul, and the only thing left for him, Bala Singh, was to die.

And so, they concluded their story, Bala Singh lay down and died; the next morning we helped burn it.

The Champawat tigress is a female Bengal tiger that lived in the late 19th century in Nepal and India. She is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most bloodthirsty of all man-eating tigers - in a few years she killed at least 430 people.

No one knows why the tigress began to attack people. Her attacks began suddenly - people who walked through the jungle began to disappear at once in dozens. Hunters and soldiers from the Nepalese army were sent to fight the tigress. They failed to shoot or catch the predator, but the soldiers were able to drive the tigress from Nepal to Indian territory.

And here's what happened next...

In India, the tigress continued her bloody feast. She became bolder and attacked people even during the day. The predator simply wandered around the villages until she came across another victim. Life in the region was paralyzed - people refused to leave their homes and go to work if they heard a tiger growl in the forest.

Finally, in 1907, English hunter Jim Corbett shot a tigress. He tracked her down near the Indian city of Champawat, where the tigress killed a 16-year-old girl. When Jim Corbett examined his hunting trophy, he found that the right upper and lower fangs of the tigress were broken off. Apparently, this made her hunt people - ordinary prey is not available to a tiger with such a defect.

• In the city of Champawat, there is a "cement slab" that indicates the place of death of the tigress.
• You can read more about the Champawat tigress and the hunt for her in Jim Corbett's autobiographical book The Kumaon Cannibals.

And now a little about the personality of the hunter himself!

Edward James "Jim" Corbett -

famous man-eating animal hunter in India.

These animals have been responsible for the deaths of more than 1200 people. The first tiger he killed, the Champawat man-eater, was the cause of the documented death of 436 people.

Corbett held the rank of colonel in the British Indian Army and was repeatedly invited by the government of the United Provinces to exterminate man-eating tigers and leopards in the regions of Garhwal and Kumaon. For his success in saving the inhabitants of the region from cannibals, he earned the respect of the inhabitants, many of whom considered him a sadhu - a saint.

Between 1907 and 1938, Corbett is documented to have tracked down and shot 19 tigers and 14 leopards officially documented as cannibals. These animals have been responsible for the deaths of more than 1200 people. The first tiger he killed, the Champawat man-eater, was the cause of the documented death of 436 people.

Corbett also shot a Panar leopard, which, after being wounded by a poacher, could no longer hunt its usual prey and, having become a cannibal, killed about 400 people. Other cannibals destroyed by Corbett include the Talladesh Ogre, the Mohan Tigress, the Tak Ogre, and the Choguar Ogre.

The most notorious of the cannibals shot by Corbett was the Rudraprayag leopard, which terrorized pilgrims on their way to the Hindu shrines at Kedarnath and Badrinath for more than a decade. An analysis of the skull and teeth of this leopard showed the presence of gum disease and the presence of broken teeth, which did not allow him to hunt for his usual food and was the reason that the beast became a cannibal.

Jim Corbett at the body of a man-eating leopard from Rudraprayag he shot in 1925

After skinning a man-eating tigress from Taka, Jim Corbett discovered two old gunshot wounds in her body, one of which (in the shoulder) became septic, and, according to Corbett, was the reason for the transformation of the animal into a cannibal. Analysis of the skulls, bones, and skins of man-eating animals showed that many of them suffered from diseases and wounds, such as deeply pierced and broken porcupine quills or gunshot wounds that did not heal.

In the preface to The Kumaon Cannibals, Corbett wrote:

The wound that forced the tiger to become a cannibal may be the result of an unsuccessful shot by a hunter who then did not pursue the wounded animal, or the result of a collision with a porcupine.

Since in the 1900s among the upper classes british india Since the sport hunting for predatory animals was widespread, this led to the regular appearance of cannibals.

In his own words, Corbett only once shot an innocent animal in the deaths of people, and he was very sorry about it. Corbett noted that man-eating animals themselves are capable of chasing the hunter. Therefore, he preferred to hunt alone and pursue the beast on foot. He often hunted with his dog, a spaniel named Robin, about which he wrote in detail in his first book, Kumaon Cannibals.

Corbett risked his life to save the lives of others, thus earning the respect of the population of the areas in which he hunted.

Corbett's home in the Indian village of Kaladhungi, Nainital, has been turned into his museum. The 221-acre piece of land that Corbett bought in 1915 is still in its original state. Also preserved in the village are the house that Corbett built for his friend Moti Singh, and the Corbett Wall, a 7.2 km long stone wall that protects the village fields from wild animals.

, United Provinces, British India - April 19, Nyeri, Kenya) - English hunter, conservationist, naturalist, writer.

Known as a hunter of cannibals and the author of a number of stories about the nature of India.

Life and activities

Youth

Jim Corbett was born to an Irish family in Nainital, in Kumaon, in the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India. He was the eighth of thirteen children in the family of Christopher and Mary Jane Corbett. The family also had a summer home in Kaladhungi, where Jim spent a lot of time.

Jim was fascinated by wildlife since childhood, he learned to distinguish between the voices of birds and animals. Over the years, he became a good hunter and tracker. Corbett attended Oak Openings, later renamed Philander Smith College, and St. Joseph's College with Nainital.

Before reaching the age of 19, he left college and began working in the Bengal and Northwest railway, first as a fuel inspector in Manakpur (Punjab) and then as a reloading contractor at Mokameh Ghat station in Bihar.

Hunting for man-eating animals

Between 1907 and 1938, Corbett is documented to have tracked down and shot 19 tigers and 14 leopards, officially documented as man-eaters. These animals have been responsible for the deaths of more than 1200 people. The first tiger he killed, the Champawat man-eater, was the cause of the documented death of 436 people.

Corbett also shot a Panar leopard, which, after being wounded by a poacher, could no longer hunt its usual prey and, having become a cannibal, killed about 400 people. Other cannibals destroyed by Corbett include the Talladesh Ogre, the Mohan Tigress, the Tak Ogre, and the Chowgar Man-Eating Tigress.

The most notorious of the cannibals shot by Corbett was the Rudraprayag leopard, which for eight years terrorized local residents and pilgrims bound for the Hindu shrines at Kedarnath and Badrinath. An analysis of the skull and teeth of this leopard showed the presence of gum disease and the presence of broken teeth, which did not allow him to hunt for his usual food and was the reason that the beast became a cannibal.

After skinning a man-eating tigress from Taka, Jim Corbett discovered two old gunshot wounds in her body, one of which (in the shoulder) became septic, and, according to Corbett, was the reason for the transformation of the animal into a cannibal. Analysis of the skulls, bones, and skins of man-eating animals showed that many of them suffered from diseases and wounds, such as deeply pierced and broken porcupine quills or gunshot wounds that did not heal.

In the preface to The Kumaon Cannibals, Corbett wrote:

Corbett risked his life to save the lives of others, thus earning the respect of the population of the areas in which he hunted.

Participation in World War I

The hunter becomes a conservationist

In the late 1920s, Corbett bought his first movie camera and began making films about the life of tigers. Although he had an excellent knowledge of the jungle, it was very difficult to get good shots due to the secretive nature of the animals.

Corbett was concerned about the fate of tigers and their habitat. He lectured to students about natural heritage and the need to conserve forests and their fauna, contributed to the creation of the Association for the Conservation of Wild Animals in the United Provinces, and the All India Conference for the Conservation wildlife(English) All-India Conference for the Preservation of Wildlife ). Together with F. W. Champion, he played a key role in the creation of the first national park in Kumaon, hailey national park, originally named for Lord Malcolm Hayley.

Involvement in World War II

Retired in Kenya

Jim Corbett died of a heart attack on April 19, 1955 at the age of 79, days after completing his sixth book. tree tops. He is buried in the graveyard of St. Peter's Anglican Church in Nyeri, Kenya.

Heritage

Corbett's home in the Indian village of Kaladhungi, Nainital, has been turned into his museum. The 221-acre piece of land that Corbett bought in 1915 is still in its original state. Also preserved in the village are the house that Corbett built for his friend Moti Singh, and the Corbett Wall, a 7.2 km long stone wall that protects the village fields from wild animals.

Literary activity

Jim Corbett's first book ("The Kumaon Cannibals") had big success in India, UK and USA. The first American edition was limited to 250,000 copies. Subsequently, the book "Kumaon Cannibals" was translated into 27 languages.

Corbett's fourth book (Jungle Science) is actually his autobiography.

Bibliography

Year	Name	Name variant	English title	Synopsis
	"Kumaon Cannibals"		Man-eaters of Kumaon	Autobiographical notes on the hunting of cannibals in Kumaon, India.
	"Leopard of Rudraprayag"		The Man-eating Leopard of Rudraprayag	The story of the hunt for the man-eating leopard from Rudraprayag.
	"My India"		My India	Autobiographical Notes on Life in India in late XIX the first half of the XX century.
	"Jungle Science"		Jungle lore	Autobiographical notes on Corbett's youth.
	"Temple Tiger"		The Temple Tiger and more man-eaters of Kumaon	Autobiographical notes on the hunting of man-eating animals in Kumaon and on the nature of India.
	"Tris Tops"		tree tops	Visit Notes British princess Elizabeth hunting lodge-hotel in Kenya.

Documentaries and feature films

• In 1986, the BBC released the docudrama Cannibals of India. Man-Eaters of India) with Fred Trevize as Corbett.
• In 2002, Corbett's books were based on the IMAX film India: Tiger Kingdom. India: Kingdom of the Tiger) with Christopher Heyerdahl as Corbett.
• In 2005, a television film based on the book The Leopard of Rudraprayag was released. The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag ) starring Jason Flemyng.

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Literature

• Martin Booth. Carpet Sahib: A Life of Jim Corbett. - Oxford University Press, USA, 1991. - 288 p. - ISBN 0192828592.

Links

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Notes

1. Dr. Shreenivaas Barge.(English) (unavailable link - story) . - short biography Jim Corbett - third edition. Retrieved July 21, 2010. .
2. Stephen Mills. tiger. - Firefly Books, 2004. - S. 99. - 168 p. - ISBN 978-1552979495.
3. Jim Corbett. Kumaon cannibals. - ARMADA-PRESS, 1999. - 396 p. - ISBN 5-7632-0825-0.
4. M. Rangarajan. India's Wildlife History: an Introduction. - Delhi: Permanent Black and Ranthambore Foundation, 2006. - S. 70. - ISBN 8178241404.
5. V. Tapar.. - Delhi: Permanent Black, 2001.
6. R.J. Prickett. Treetops: Story of a World Famous Hotel. - Nairn Scotland: David & Charles, 1998. - 200 p. - ISBN 0715390201.
7. G.K. Sharma.(English) . The Sunday Tribune (May 26, 2002). Retrieved July 20, 2010. .
8. Visitors" log book of 1954, Treetops hotel, Kenya
9. Jaleel, J.A.(English) (unavailable link - story) (2009). Retrieved 20 July 2010.

Excerpt characterizing Corbett, Jim

A French hussar non-commissioned officer, in a crimson uniform and a shaggy hat, shouted at Balashev, who was approaching, ordering him to stop. Balashev did not immediately stop, but continued to move along the road at a pace.
The non-commissioned officer, frowning and muttering some kind of curse, moved his horse's chest towards Balashev, took up his saber and rudely shouted at the Russian general, asking him: is he deaf that he does not hear what they say to him. Balashev named himself. The non-commissioned officer sent a soldier to the officer.
Paying no attention to Balashev, the non-commissioned officer began to talk with his comrades about his regimental affairs and did not look at the Russian general.
It was extraordinarily strange for Balashev, after being close to the highest power and might, after a conversation three hours ago with the sovereign and generally accustomed to honors in his service, to see here, on Russian soil, this hostile and, most importantly, disrespectful attitude of brute force towards himself.
The sun was just beginning to rise from behind the clouds; the air was fresh and dewy. On the way, the herd was driven out of the village. In the fields, one by one, like bubbles in water, the larks burst up with a chuckle.
Balashev looked around him, waiting for the arrival of an officer from the village. The Russian Cossacks, and the trumpeter, and the French hussars silently looked at each other from time to time.
A French hussar colonel, apparently just out of bed, rode out of the village on a handsome, well-fed gray horse, accompanied by two hussars. On the officer, on the soldiers and on their horses there was a look of contentment and panache.
This was the first time of the campaign, when the troops were still in good order, almost equal to a lookout, peaceful activity, only with a touch of elegant militancy in clothes and with a moral touch of that fun and enterprise that always accompany the beginning of campaigns.
The French colonel could hardly hold back a yawn, but he was courteous and, apparently, understood the full significance of Balashev. He led him past his soldiers by the chain and informed him that his desire to be presented to the emperor would probably be immediately fulfilled, since the imperial apartment, as far as he knew, was not far away.
They passed the village of Rykonty, past the French hussar hitching posts, sentries and soldiers saluting their colonel and curiously examining the Russian uniform, and drove to the other side of the village. According to the colonel, the head of the division was two kilometers away, who would receive Balashev and escort him to his destination.
The sun had already risen and shone cheerfully on the bright greenery.
They had just left behind the tavern on the mountain, when a group of horsemen appeared to meet them from under the mountain, in front of which rode a black horse with a harness shining in the sun. tall a man in a hat with feathers and black hair curled to the shoulders, in a red robe and with long legs bulging forward like the French ride. This man galloped towards Balashev, shining and fluttering in the bright June sun with his feathers, stones and gold galloons.
Balashev was already at a distance of two horses from the rider galloping towards him with a solemnly theatrical face in bracelets, feathers, necklaces and gold, when Yulner, a French colonel, whispered respectfully: "Le roi de Naples." [King of Naples.] Indeed, it was Murat, now called the Neapolitan king. Although it was completely incomprehensible why he was a Neapolitan king, he was called that, and he himself was convinced of this and therefore had a more solemn and important air than before. He was so sure that he was really the king of Naples, that when, on the eve of his departure from Naples, during his walk with his wife through the streets of Naples, several Italians shouted to him: “Viva il re!”, [Long live the king! (Italian)] he turned to his wife with a sad smile and said: “Les malheureux, ils ne savent pas que je les quitte demain! [Unfortunate, they don't know that I'm leaving them tomorrow!]
But despite the fact that he firmly believed that he was a Neapolitan king, and that he regretted the sorrow of his subjects he left, in recent times, after he was ordered to enter the service again, and especially after a meeting with Napoleon in Danzig, when his august brother-in-law said to him: “Je vous ai fait Roi pour regner a maniere, mais pas a la votre”, [I made you king in order to reign not according to his own, but according to mine.] - he cheerfully set to work familiar to him and, like a horse that was corrugated, but not fat, fit for service, sensing himself in a harness, played in the shafts and, having discharged himself as colorfully as possible and more expensive, cheerful and contented, galloping, without knowing where or why, along the roads of Poland.
Seeing the Russian general, he royally, solemnly, threw back his head with his hair curled to his shoulders and looked inquiringly at the French colonel. The colonel respectfully conveyed to His Majesty the meaning of Balashev, whose name he could not pronounce.
– De Bal macheve! - said the king (with his determination overcoming the difficulty presented to the colonel), - charme de faire votre connaissance, general, [it is very nice to meet you, general] - he added with a royally gracious gesture. As soon as the king began to speak loudly and quickly, all royal dignity instantly left him, and he, without noticing it himself, went into his usual tone of good-natured familiarity. He put his hand on the withers of Balashev's horse.
- Eh, bien, general, tout est a la guerre, a ce qu "il parait, [Well, general, things seem to be going to war,] - he said, as if regretting a circumstance that he did not could judge.
- Sire, - answered Balashev. - l "Empereur mon maitre ne desire point la guerre, et comme Votre Majeste le voit," Balashev said, using Votre Majeste in all cases, [The Emperor of Russia does not want her, as your majesty please see ... your majesty.] with the inevitable an affectation of the increasing frequency of the title, referring to a person for whom this title is still news.
Murat's face shone with stupid contentment while he listened to monsieur de Balachoff. But royaute oblige: [royalty has its duties:] he felt the need to speak with Alexander's envoy about public affairs as king and ally. He dismounted from his horse and, taking Balashev by the arm and moving a few steps away from the reverently waiting retinue, began to walk back and forth with him, trying to speak significantly. He mentioned that the emperor Napoleon was offended by the demands for the withdrawal of troops from Prussia, especially now that this demand had become known to everyone and that the dignity of France was offended by this. Balashev said that there was nothing offensive in this demand, because ... Murat interrupted him:
“So you don’t think Emperor Alexander was the instigator?” he said unexpectedly with a good-natured stupid smile.
Balashev said why he really believed that Napoleon was the instigator of the war.
- Eh, mon cher general, - Murat interrupted him again, - je desire de tout mon c?ur que les Empereurs s "arrangent entre eux, et que la guerre commencee malgre moi se termine le plutot possible, [Ah, my dear general, I wish with all my heart that the emperors end the matter between themselves and that the war started against my will end as soon as possible.] - he said in the tone of conversation of the servants who wish to remain good friends, despite the quarrel between the masters. And he went on to questions about the Grand Duke, about his health and about the memories of the fun and amusing time spent with him in Naples.Then, as if suddenly remembering his royal dignity, Murat solemnly straightened up, took the same position in which he stood at the coronation, and waving right hand, said: - Je ne vous retiens plus, general; je souhaite le succes de vorte mission, [I will not detain you any longer, general; I wish success to your embassy,] - and, fluttering with a red embroidered mantle and feathers and shining with jewels, he went to the retinue, respectfully waiting for him.
Balashev rode on, according to Murat, expecting to be presented to Napoleon himself very soon. But instead of an early meeting with Napoleon, the sentries of the Davout infantry corps again detained him at the next village, as well as in the advanced chain, and the adjutant of the corps commander, called, escorted him to the village to Marshal Davout.

Davout was Arakcheev of Emperor Napoleon - Arakcheev is not a coward, but just as serviceable, cruel and incapable of expressing his devotion except by cruelty.
The mechanism of the state organism needs these people, just as wolves are needed in the organism of nature, and they always exist, always appear and hold on, no matter how incongruous their presence and proximity to the head of government may seem. Only this necessity can explain how the cruel, who personally tore out the mustaches of the grenadiers and who, due to his weakness, could not endure the danger, the uneducated, uncourt Arakcheev, could remain in such strength with the chivalrously noble and gentle character of Alexander.
Balashev found Marshal Davout in the barn of a peasant's hut, sitting on a barrel and busy with written work (he checked the scores). The adjutant stood beside him. It was possible to find a better place, but Marshal Davout was one of those people who purposely put themselves in the most gloomy conditions of life in order to have the right to be gloomy. For the same reason they are always hastily and stubbornly busy. "Where is there to think about the happy side human life when, you see, I am sitting on a barrel in a dirty shed and working, ”the expression on his face said. The main pleasure and need of these people is that, having met the revival of life, to throw this revival into the eyes of my gloomy, stubborn activity. Davout gave himself this pleasure when Balashev was brought in. He went even deeper into his work when the Russian general entered, and, looking through his glasses at Balashev's animated face, impressed by the beautiful morning and the conversation with Murat, he did not get up, did not even move, but frowned even more and grinned maliciously.
Noticing the unpleasant impression made by this technique on Balashev's face, Davout raised his head and coldly asked what he needed.
Assuming that such a reception could only be made to him because Davout did not know that he was the adjutant general of Emperor Alexander and even his representative before Napoleon, Balashev hastened to announce his rank and appointment. Contrary to his expectations, Davout, after listening to Balashev, became even more severe and rude.
- Where is your package? - he said. - Donnez le moi, ije l "enverrai a l" Empereur. [Give it to me, I will send it to the emperor.]
Balashev said that he had an order to personally deliver the package to the emperor himself.
“The orders of your emperor are carried out in your army, but here,” Davout said, “you must do what you are told.
And as if in order to make the Russian general even more aware of his dependence on brute force, Davout sent an adjutant for the duty officer.
Balashev took out a package that concluded the letter of the sovereign, and put it on the table (a table consisting of a door on which torn-off hinges stuck out, laid on two barrels). Davout took the envelope and read the inscription.
“You have every right to respect me or not,” said Balashev. “But let me tell you that I have the honor of holding the rank of Adjutant General of His Majesty…”
Davout looked at him in silence, and some excitement and embarrassment, expressed on Balashev's face, apparently gave him pleasure.
“You will be given your due,” he said, and putting the envelope in his pocket, he left the barn.
A minute later, the adjutant of the marshal, Mr. de Castres, entered and led Balashev into the room prepared for him.
Balashev dined that day with the marshal in the same shed, on the same board on barrels.
The next day, Davout left early in the morning and, inviting Balashev to his place, told him impressively that he asked him to stay here, to move along with the luggage, if they had orders to do so, and not to talk to anyone except Monsieur de Castro.
After four days of solitude, boredom, a consciousness of subservience and insignificance, especially palpable after the environment of power in which he had so recently found himself, after several crossings along with the marshal's luggage, with French troops occupying the entire area, Balashev was brought to Vilna, now occupied by the French , to the same outpost on which he left four days ago.
The next day, the imperial chamberlain, monsieur de Turenne, came to Balashev and conveyed to him the desire of Emperor Napoleon to honor him with an audience.
Four days ago, sentries from the Preobrazhensky Regiment stood at the house to which Balashev was brought, but now there were two French grenadiers in blue uniforms open on their chests and in shaggy hats, a convoy of hussars and lancers and a brilliant retinue of adjutants, pages and generals, waiting for the exit Napoleon around the riding horse standing at the porch and his mameluke Rustav. Napoleon received Balashev in the same house in Vilva from which Alexander sent him.

Despite Balashev's habit of court solemnity, the luxury and splendor of the court of Emperor Napoleon struck him.
Count Turen led him into a large waiting room, where many generals, chamberlains and Polish magnates were waiting, many of whom Balashev had seen at the court of the Russian emperor. Duroc said that Emperor Napoleon would receive the Russian general before his walk.
After several minutes of waiting, the chamberlain on duty went out into the large reception room and, bowing politely to Balashev, invited him to follow him.

Edward James "Jim" Corbett(Eng. Edward James "Jim" Corbett; July 25, 1875, Nainital, United Provinces, British India - April 19, 1955, Nyeri, Kenya) - English hunter, conservationist, naturalist, writer.

Known as a hunter of cannibals and the author of a number of stories about the nature of India.

Corbett held the rank of colonel in the British Indian Army and was repeatedly invited by the government of the United Provinces to exterminate man-eating tigers and leopards in the regions of Garhwal and Kumaon. For his success in saving the inhabitants of the region from cannibals, he earned the respect of the inhabitants, many of whom considered him a sadhu - a saint.

Jim Corbett was an avid photographer and film lover. After his retirement, he began to write books about the nature of India, the hunting of cannibals and the life of the common people of British India. Corbett also actively campaigned for the protection of Indian wildlife. A national park was named in his honor in 1957.

Life and activities

Youth

Jim Corbett was born to an Irish family in Nainital, Kumaon, in the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India. He was the eighth of thirteen children in the family of Christopher and Mary Jane Corbett. The family also had a summer home in Kaladhungi, where Jim spent a lot of time.

Jim was fascinated by wildlife since childhood, he learned to distinguish between the voices of birds and animals. Over the years, he became a good hunter and tracker. Corbett attended Oak Openings, later renamed Philander Smith College, and St. Joseph's College with Nainital.

Before the age of 19, he left college to work for the Bengal and North Western Railway, first as a fuel inspector in Manakpur, Punjab, and then as a reloading contractor at Mokameh Ghat station in Bihar.

Hunting for man-eating animals

Between 1907 and 1938, Corbett is documented to have tracked down and shot 19 tigers and 14 leopards officially documented as cannibals. These animals have been responsible for the deaths of more than 1200 people. The first tiger he killed, the Champawat man-eater, was the cause of the documented death of 436 people.

Corbett also shot a Panar leopard, which, after being wounded by a poacher, could no longer hunt its usual prey and, having become a cannibal, killed about 400 people. Other cannibals destroyed by Corbett include the Talladesh Ogre, the Mohan Tigress, the Tak Ogre, and the Chowgar Man-Eating Tigress.

The most notorious of the cannibals shot by Corbett was the Rudraprayag leopard, which for eight years terrorized locals and pilgrims on their way to Hindu shrines at Kedarnath and Badrinath. An analysis of the skull and teeth of this leopard showed the presence of gum disease and the presence of broken teeth, which did not allow him to hunt for his usual food and was the reason that the beast became a cannibal.

After skinning a man-eating tigress from Taka, Jim Corbett discovered two old gunshot wounds in her body, one of which (in the shoulder) became septic, and, according to Corbett, was the reason for the transformation of the animal into a cannibal. Analysis of the skulls, bones, and skins of man-eating animals showed that many of them suffered from diseases and wounds, such as deeply pierced and broken porcupine quills or gunshot wounds that did not heal.

In the preface to The Kumaon Cannibals, Corbett wrote:

Since sport hunting of predatory animals was widespread among the upper classes of British India in the 1900s, this led to the regular appearance of man-eating animals.

In his own words, Corbett only once shot an innocent animal in the deaths of people, and he was very sorry about it. Corbett noted that man-eating animals themselves are capable of chasing the hunter. Therefore, he preferred to hunt alone and pursue the beast on foot. He often hunted with his dog, a spaniel named Robin, about which he wrote in detail in his first book, Kumaon Cannibals.