The New era. [volume] ([Portsmouth, Va.]) 1845-1847, 1845-09-19

saw, l thought II extremely pruhabie that W.
should be obliged To pass days in this cavern
w men me Storm, however, had some " hat aba led
our guides venturtd out in order In ascertain if il
were possible Ia continue our journey The cave
IN which we had taken refuge MAS exiremelu
uark' mat II We moved few PAGES from the on
rance we cunid not see an inch before us: and
We were debating as To the prupriety uf leayip, !,
before the indians came back when we suddenlv
heard singular groaning nr oruwling M IN. fur.
'ner end uf the cavern. which Instantly fixed all
our attention. Wharton and myscl listened any
l"usiy but our daring and inconsi,Ieraie ym,nu
TREND Lincoln. together with my hnn,smau crsnt
ao"u' on their hands and kites, and endeavur,d IN
u'ScoVer oy cropping. from whence the sound pro-
ceeoe" lhey had not advanced far in,n the cav
EN- ot'nre we heard them utter an exclamation ,f
surprise; ana they returned To u.s. each CARVING
IN his arms an animal singuarly marked. aud a.
hon the size of cat, seemingly of Cr.a, s,,eno,h
anu power, ana furnished with immense fanys
J he eyes were at green color; strong claws
were upon their feet. aud blood red tonone huoo
out OF their mouths. Wharton had sc,rc.lv
glanced at them. when he exclaimed in cnos,er
hat'"h - Gt"d heavensi have we come into tho
uen I" -. lie was intercepted by = fearful!
cry at dlsmay from our guides who came rusbi,.a
precplaely towards us, calling out. A tuer
tger!' aud at the same time with extranrdio.ru
rapldity, they climbed up cedar tree which s,,nd
al the entrance OF the cave, and hid themselves
among the branches
Amer the flrst sensation of horror and SUNRISE
which rendered me mutiunless for a mnment n,d
subsidized, grasped my firearms Wharton had
a'e"uy regainhd his coinposure and self posses
s,"", a"u ne called 10 ms To assist him Instantly i'm
blocking up the mouth of the cave with an i'm
mense stone. which, fortunately, Law near it
/ he sense OF approaching danger augmented our
sfrh9'h, fur we now distintly heard the uroysl
| vi the terocons animal, and we were lost beyond
redemption II II reached the entrance before we
could get At closed Ere this was done. we conld
distinctly see the tiger bounding towards the spot.
ana stopping. In order TO creep into his den by The
""''"" opening. Al this fearful moment our ex-
'''''"s we're successful and the great stone kept
Inc Wild beast at bay. There was small omen
space, however, left between the ton of The en-
trance and the stone, through which we could see
| 'he mead "i The animal illuminated by its glowing
eyes which 1t rolled, glaring with fury upon us
us I'sh''"i roaring too. penetrated the depths of
the cavern, and was answered by the hoarse
growing OF the cubs, which Lincoln and Frank
hao no" Tossed from them. Our ferocuus enemy
| "'e,"P,eo hrst 10 remove the stone with lis pow
eriul claws, and then To push it with its head
'ro" lis place and these efuus proving abortive.
served only To increase his wrah He uttered q
''mehu"hs, heart piercing howl, and his haminp
leyrs dar'ed light into the darkness of our retreat
Vow Is The time 10 fireat him. sad Whar-
W" WIN MS usual calinness aim al his eyes
Inc ball will 60 through his BRAIN and e shall
''tn nave Chance In get rid of him.
+ rank seized his double barreled gun, and Lin
coin his pSiols-ihe former placed the u,n,,la
within few inches of the TIGER. and l.pcnln d;J
the same. At Wharton's command rbev hn,b
drew Their triggers at the same moment. hui no
Shol followed The Tiger, WHO seemed awa,e
''at ,i'e hash Indicated an attack upon him. spranq
9to" ing from the entrance hui, upnn feeling
! HiuseH unhurt. Immediately turned back avain
ana stationed himself in his former place The
P'"uer IN bnth pieces wet they therefore
P,"'e'ueu 10 draw The useless loading, whilst
wharton and myself FASTENED to seek our now
der Hash 1t was extremely dark. that we
were obliged to grope about the cave and al last.
cunning IN contact with the cubs, we heard a
'uS'i,'g noise, as II they were playing with some
n'e'"i substance, which we soon discovered was
me canister we were looking for Most I'M
ofiuha'ely' however, the animals had pushed off
t'ie iii win their claws. and The powder had been
9'f"eu over the damp earth. aud rendered en-
"'e'y "SFiess' his horrible discovery excited the
great ST considerations
All Is nnw over" said Wharton. ..We
nave "hiy now to chnose whether we shall die of
"""Sfr' together with these animals who are shut
up along with us, open the entrance To the
ohoh 'hiTSiy monster without and To make a
quicker end Of the matter"
." saying, he placed himself close beside the
S""e winch Tor moment, defended us, and
l""krd undaunledly upon the lightning eyes of
tue "gPr' Lincoln raved and swore and Frank
,"k piece OF strong card from his pocket, and
has'ened To The farther end of the cave knew
MOI WIN what design We soon, how ever, heard
'"w' s'itiled groaning, and the tiger, " no had
"edru II also, became more restless and disturbed
thah ever! He went backwards and forwards
before The entrance uf the cave in the most wild
anu Inpe'u"ns manner, then stood still, and
stretching out his neck in the direction of the To-
resi- of"ke forth into deafening howl Our two
indian guides took advantage uf This opportunity
I" discharge several arrows from the tree. He
WIS Struck more than once, but the light wea-
Iohs bounded back harmless from his thick skin
AZ length however, one Of them struck him near
'ne eye, and the arrow remained sticking in the
wound. lie now broke anew into the widest fn-
! ~ sprang at the tree, and tore it with his claws
as u ne would have dragged it to The ground
but having al length succeeded in getting rid of
'ne arrow, he became more calm. and laid him
sell o"wn as before IN front Of The cave
frank now returned from The lower end Of the
4en' ana glance showed US what he had been
no'ng. In eaci hand, and dangling from the end
~ a sirIng' were the two cubs He had stran-
glPd Them; and before we were aware what he in