American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1866-08-22
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YRAYELS I'm INDIA.
CONFLICTS WITH THE TIGER.

Many years ago, official duties led me to
small village in Rengrapeer, one of the
remotest and widest divisions of that wild
country, the Kolehan, on the southwest
frontier The hamlet consisted of some
five or six cottages in cleared space Of
as many acres, surrounded by forest. A
brook, whence the women of the village
procured water, ran by the bottom of
slope, about two hundred yards from the
house, and Ga usual feature in Kole vii
llges) a few large slabs of sIaty rocks FIX
ed in the ground marked where "the rude
forefathers of the hamlet sleep" Near
one of those l observed pole erected, on
which grinned the skull of tiger, with
the bones of one Of its arms dismembercd
half way up. l turned to the villagers
near me for an explanation, and heard
this:
The daughter of the Moonda, or head
man Of the place, was afianced, in the
rude native fashion, to one of the young
men of the village, and their nuptials
were to come off in few days One eve.
ming the girl, with some of her female
companions, went, as was their daily wont,
to the brook already mentioned, to bathc
and fetch water for the household. They
had been absent but & quarter Of an hour,
when the startling voice of tiger, and
piercing shrieks of the women, suddenly
broke the silence of the hour, and before
the reused villagers could snatch their
arms the girls came flying back with hor.
ror in their faces, aud in few words an
nounced the dreadful fact that tiger
had carried off one of their party. 1t
was the Moonda's daughter. Herr stout.
hearted kinsmen rushed out, but with
hopeless hearts to the rescue. Foremost
.mong these was her intended husband,
and close ky his side bis sworn brother
While the rest were following with skill
and caution, the bloody traces of the
,uonster and his prey, those two, dashing
on through the dense jungle, soon came
upon the object of their search. In a
small open space (Which aiterwasds Wis
itcd) the tiger was crouchci over the
dead body of the girl, which it bad al.
ready began to devour. The approach
bf the hunters rouscI him, and he stood
over the carcass, growing defiance at the
two men.
In moment an arrow from the bercav-
en- lovers bow pic reed the tigers chest.
1t struck deep aud true, but not so as Gin
sporting Phrase) to stop the dreadful
beast, who, from distance of some thir.
ty PAGES, came down, with his peculiar
Shirlwnd rush, on his assaillnt. The
young man had just time to draw his
kappec." or battle axe, from his girdlc,
when the tiger seized him by the left
wrist. The man leaning we'll back to
gain room for the swing OF the axe, drove
it with all the collected strength Of rage
and despair into the tigers forearm, sew.
ering the massive bone, and leaving the
blade buried in the muscles. Next mo.
mcnt his head was crushed within the
monsters jaws. and he fell de d upon the
ground, while the tiger, tanned by the
loss of blood, turned round and began to
limp away. All occurred so rapidly that
The surviving comrade had not shot a
shaft, but now, maddened, he ran to the
retreating brute and sent arrow after ar
row up to the feather into its side and
heck until it rolled over, dying, when all
Of the party came up. They struck of
its head, discovered the muscle by which
the left forearm still adhered to the
shoulder, and with these evidences Of
thelr success and the mangled bodies Of
ihe poor victims in few yards of the i'll
fatcd young couple The tiger still
breathed as the rest borne on litters, re-
turned, a melancholy procession to the
village. The above minute details had
from the actor himself, stalwart young
fellow The event had occurred not
more than a month or FIVE weeks before,
and the sun dried strips of flesh still ad-
hered to the gastly trophy on the pole.
] wished to have brought the bones away,
but they gave some comfort to the poor
old Moonda's heart. They reminded him
that his daughter had not died 1paveng-
ed, and | left them there.
Another instance that became known
to me of heroism among the Koles is of
q more homely sort. In another part of
Reugrapecr, clearing was made in the
forest of an old man, his wife, her sister,
and grown-up daughter. No other hu-
man being lived within miles of their sol.
itary hut, and the head of the family had
to 60 frequently, and always alone, to a
distant village for the necessaries of life.