Targovi watches Pele Zachary who sets out:
"...on an overcast afternoon, when odors of wilderness lay rank and dank in windless heat." (p. 358)
Three senses - and we usually read about wind, not windlessness!
Observing with Tigery senses, he follows Pele while remaining out of sight:
"Targovi's tendrils picked the faint traces of her individual scent-complex out of the air. Yes, she was definitely bound for the field." (p. 360)
His tendrils also detect vibrations. He has a hunting animal's abilities to blend into the background, to move without sound, to bound up a tree with clawed feet and to soar from tree to tree above the Zacharians that he is following but he must return to the ground as they approach habitation in order not to be noticed by the arboreal Cynthians who will not expect to see their familiar outworld itinerant trader clambering about among the trees of their village.
Of the three kinds of beings mentioned in this post, only the Zacharians are a kind of humanity. Cynthians are from Cynthia but also have settlements on Daedalus and elsewhere. Tigeries are originally from Starkad, now destroyed, but currently settled on Imhotep.
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9 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I dunno, it seems a strain to think someone as large and heavy as Targovi could soar so easily from tree to tree.
Ad astra! Sean
Depends on strength-to-weight ratio. Tigers can jump over 30 ft.
30ft horizontally. And 16ft straight up from a crouching position. That's impressive when you realize they're mostly over 400 pounds and often over 600.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Very impressive, indeed, what you informed us about the ALARMING abilities of tigers! That does make it easier for me to believe Targovi could actually soar.
I really, really don't want to face a tiger unless I had a weapon that could kill it dead in its tracks.
I am glad to dismiss what I thought might have been an implausibility by Anderson--meaning it's some intelligent races could soar like Tigeries.
Ad astra! Sean
Correction: I meant to write: "...meaning it's possible some intelligent..."
Sean
Big cats resemble small cats behaviorally -- lions being a partial exception because they're more social.
However, what's amusing in a small cat -- losing its temper, for example -- is... alarming in a beast weighting over 400 lbs. And very, very strong for its size.
Kaor, Paul!
Absolutely! The antics of a small domestic cat are amusing--but the rage of a tiger is a very different and far more alarming matter. I want an elephant killing rifle before facing a tiger.
And there were actually Englishmen in the India of the Raj hunting tigers with only spears!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: not commonly. They were usually hunted with rifles from the howdahs of elephants.
Now, "pig-sticking" (hunting wild boar from horseback with spears) was much more common. And wild boar are -dangerous-.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Oops! I got it wrong, it was pig-sticking those adventure seeking Anglo/Indians enjoyed, not "tiger-sticking."
I agree, wild boars are very dangerous, some weighing 400 or 500 lbs. And more than willing to fight their hunters.
Ad astra! Sean
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