"Tiger hunting in India in the days of the British Raj was dangerous for both the tiger and the hunter. It was not unknown for the tiger to try to climb up the elephant to get at the hunters in the howdah, and at such close range, a rifle was not an effective weapon. For such 'last ditch' defense, a large-bore, double barrelled pistol was used, and these came to be known as "Howdah Pistols". The one shown here is a fine example made by Purdey in the first half of the 19th century. Like most howdah pistols, it is a large smoothbore, in this case, 0.662"(16 ga) with 7 1/2" barrels. Since they were meant for 'snatch & shoot' action, it has only a rudimentary bead front sight and no rear sight, but it is relatively light (2 pounds 6 ounces), and the balance is absolutely superb."