The Sun.
London, England, 1837-08-21 00:00:00

THE YOUNG TIGER HUNTER.

I had never before seen anything in the shape of tiger,
and was struck dumb with astonishment. Not so my
little Moor boy. He was the son of a famous Shikaree,
and I believe he had never seen a tiger any more than my-
self ; he had often heard his father talk of his exploits
among the wild beasts of the forests ; he knew me to be a
Griffin, and his little heart swelled with the proud con-
sciousness of superior knowledge in woodcraft. " Suppose
master, please," said he, drawing himself up, and assuming
an air of much importance, " I show Sahib how to kill that
tiger. I know very well burrah slacar business." In my
simplicity I looked upon the daring little imp, who talked
thus confidently of killing a panther with a degree of respect
almost amounting to awe ; and, without hesitation, put my-
self under his guidance. According to his directions, I ex-
tracted the shot from my gun, and loaded it with some
bullets, which I happened to have in my pocket. " Now,
then," exclaimed my young shikaree, as he placed me be-
hind the shelter of a large stone, directly in front of the
cave ; " now, then, I show Sahib how to make tiger come.
Sahib make tiger eat plenty balls; that proper Shikar busi-
ness." So saying, he marched directly up to the entrance
of the cave, and began to pelt the tiger with stones, abusing
him at the same time in choice Hindoostanee slang. Sure
enough this did make " tiger come" with a vengeance.
The enraged brute, uttering a shrill roar, darted from the
cave, seized the boy by the back of the neck, threw him
over his shoulder, and dashed down the hill like a thunder-
bolt. My blood curdled at the sight ; but I instinctively
fired, and, I suppose, hit the beast, for he instantly dropped
the boy, who rolled into a dark ravine at the foot of the
hill. The panther having disappeared in a neighbouring
jungle, I descended into the ravine, to look after poor
little " Kheder." There he lay, weltering in blood, dread-
fully mangled, and evidently in a dying state, but still
quite sensible. The gallant little fellow never uttered a
complaint, but fixing his large black eyes steadily on my
countenance, as if he could there read his fate, asked in
a faint tone of voice for some water. I was stooping down
to collect some in my hat, when I was startled by a surly
growl and the noise of some animal snuffing amongst the
brushwood, which closed over my head and almost excluded
the light of day. It was the panther, who had returned.
My first impulse was to fly, and leave the boy to his fate.
But poor " Kheder," seeing my interion, fixed his glassy
eyes upon me with an imploring look, which cut me to the
heart, and made me blush for very shame. Kneeling by his
side, I raised his head, wiped the bloody froth from his parched
lips, and poured a few drops of water down his throat. This
appeared to revive him. " You have not killed the tiger,
Sahib," said he, speaking in Hindoostanee ; " I am sorry
for that. I should liked to have sent his skin to my father.
But you will tell him, Sahib, that I died like a shikaree.
I was not afraid of the tiger ; I never cried out when 1
felt his teeth crunching through my bones. No ; I struck
my knife in him twice. See ! that is tiger's blood !" and
his glazing eye flashed wildly for a moment, as he held up a
bloody knife, which he clutched firmly in his right hand.
"My father will be proud to hear this. But my mother
will cry very much, and her heart will turn to water when
she hears that lam dead." And here, for the first time,
the hot tears began to trickle down his cheeks. For a few
minutes he remained motionless, with his eyes closed, and
big drops stealing, slowly and silently through the long silken
eylashes. But, suddenly starting up, with his eyes burst-
ing from their sockets, and gasping painfully for breath, he
screamed as if in a fit of delirium, " The tiger has seized
me again !—save me, Sahib—save me !" cried he, in a hoarse
voice, " I feel his teeth in my throat ! my breath is stopped !
—ah !—!"—he gasped like a person drowning—his eyes
turned in his head till nothing but the white was visible—
his jaws became firmly locked—a cold shudder ran through
his limbs—and the gallant little " Kheder" fell back in my
arms, a stiffened corpse. I was young then, and unused to
witness death ; and that scene has made an impression on
my mind which will never be obliterated. All this time
the panther continued to pace up and down the edge of the
ravine, nearly on a level with my head, growling fearfully,
ever and anon, poking his snout into the bushes, and snuffing
at me, as if debating with himself whether or not he should
jump down.—The Spertsman.

A GREEK WEDDING.—Having arrived at the
church, they proceeded to the altar, the wax tapers of
which were lighted, although it was mid-day ; and then,
after several interrogatories being put to the bride and
bridegroom mutually, after the manner of the English ri-
tual, the ceremony was completed, and the two were " one
flesh." At that part where they were named man and
wife, the compadre, or sponsor, placed a crown or garland

. .
of flowers upon each of their heads. When the-crown
was placed upon the bride's head, the bridegroom placed, at

. .
the same time, a shawl (sometimes a handkerchief is sub-
stituted) upon hor shoulders, as a present. The priest then
blessed them, and they proceeded out of the church arm in
arm, with the same music preceding them, to their habita-
tion.—Cochrane's Wanderings in Greece.

Lvo Tftl E VES.—On Thursday two suspicious-
looking characters, named Wilson and Forrest, belonging
to Glasgow, one of them a noted thief, were observed by
those active officers M'Levy and Mulholland to enter a
stair leading to the shop of a pawnbroker in the High-street
with a bundle. They were immediately followed and
seized ; and the bundle, on being examined, was found to
contain a black coat and vest, with drab trowsers, all nearly
new. On searching their persons each was discovered to
be wearing two excellent vests under his own ; and in the
pocket of one of them was a tortoiseshell snuff-box, with the
initials " L. S." inscribed on a pice of silver on the lid.
They were placed in confinement, in the hope that an owner
for the property would soon cast up, which accordingly
happened on Sunday last. A person from the neighbour-
hood of Dallteith called at the Police-office on the fore-
noon of Sunday, and stated that he had lost certain articles :
when, upon being shown those found upon Wilson and For
rest, he identified a large portion of them, including the
snuff-box, to be his. In about half an hour afterwards ano-
ther person called from Rose-street, to intimate also the loss
of some similar property, when the remaining articles were
claimed by him. Wilson and Forrest were brought up to
the Police bar on Monday, and remitted to the Sheriff.—
Scots Times.

Ric u AND Poon.—Poor men sometimes think,
what a fine thing it would be if all the property of the rich
were equally divided amongst them, and that in future no
one should be allowed to grow rich ; but they little con-
sider what would be the consequences of such a measure.
In the first place, they must begin by robbery, as no one
could expect that the richer people would willingly part
with their property ; and in the next place they would find
after this iniquity had bee❑ committed and an equal divi-
sion of the whole wealth of the nation had been made, that
each person's share would be a very small one. A man
would still, as before, be obliged to work for his living, for
food and clothes could not be had without somebody's la-
bour ; and he must work hard too, for every article must
then be produced by hand labour, as all the large manufac-
tories would have been destroyed in consequence of the ruin
of the masters of them, and what could be bought before
for a shilling, would probably cost five times as much, or
more, after the destruction of the machinery. In a few
months' time, those people who were stronger and had
better head-pieces would have become richer, and a fresh
robbery must now take place that the riches might be again
divided. In short, the whole nation would become a set
of robbers, and neither life nor property would be secure
for a moment ; every man would have a right to thrust his
hand into his neighbour's pocket whenever he had earned
sixpence more than himself. Consider, too, that all those
persons who have been reduced to distress, by sickness or
bad crops, must die of starvation, as nobody would be able,
however willing, to relieve them. Is it possible that such
people could thrive, living in open defiance of the laws both
of God and civilized man ? It is not possible ; for there
never was an instance, since the world began, of a nation's
prospering and of the poor enjoying the comforts and ne-
cessaries of life where property was not :espected. It should
be also remembered, that except a rich man locks up his
money, a very rare case indeed, he pays away his income to
servants, labourers, and tradespeople, who again lay out the
money in food and clothes for their families ; so that, in
fact, a division is at present made of his property amongst
the poor, though not indeed an equal one. But all forced
attempts at equalizing property have ever failed in produc-
ing the end designed, and must ever fail, for it is as much a
law of nature that some should he rich and some should be
poor, as that some should be tall and some should be short,
or that some should be sickly and others should be healthy.
Tea Minutes Advice to Labourers.

ARAB MODE OF TRACING FOOTSTEPS.—TIIB
Arab who has applied himself diligently to this study, for
it is only to be acquired by long practice, can generally as-
certain from inspecting the impression :-1. Whether the
footsteps belong to his own or to some neighbouring tribe,
and consequently whether friend or foe has passed :
He knows from the slightness or depth of the impression
whether the man who made it carried a load or not : 3.
From the strength or faintness of the trace, whether he
passed on the same day or one or two days before : and 4.
From a certain regularity of intervals between the steps, a
Bedouin judges whether the man is fatigued or not, and
hence he can calculate the chance of overtaing bins. This
faculty of distinguishing footsteps on the ground extends
to beasts (horses and camels) as well as men, and in the
exercise of it, the same observations will lead to the same
results.

A silver coin of Elizabeth, dated 1571, was turned
up in Eley-well-field, in the parish of Trowel!, last Satur-
day week, by a labourer, named Thomas Hayes, of Staple-
ford, whilst hoeing turnips, It is rather larger than a shil-
ling of the present coinage, and is in fair condition, except-
ing' the lie, d of the virBia Queen, which .16 i.oarli obliterated.
—Nottinyha Review.