Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1869-10-21
TREED BY \ TIGER

TIE following thrilling acconnt ofa
aiventuze with a South American tiger
IS taken from Colonel S1rmiento's LII
in thu Argentine r pnhlc in tho Days Of
the Tyrants, :" recently published:
Between the cities of San Luis and San
Juan lies an extensive desert. called the
Travesia. word which signifies want
of water The aspect Of that waste IS
most gloomy aud unpromising, and the
traveller coming from the EaSt does not
fail to provide b : clifes with 4 sufficient
quantitv Of water the last cjste-n which
he passes as he app, aches it. The Ira
yeeia once witnessed the following strange
scene. The consequences Of some Of the
encounters with knives, socommon among
our gauchos, had driven one Of them IN
haste from the city of San Luis. and forced
him to escape to the Travasia on foot, and
with his riding gear on his shoulder, in
order to avoid the pursuit of the law
Two comrades were 10 j3in him as soon as
they could steal horses for all three.
Hunger and thirst were not the only
dangers which at that tine awaited him In
the desert. \ tiger that had already ta~-
ted human flesh had been following the
track U. those who crossed it for year,
and more than eight pers ~ had already
been the victims of this preference.
Ia these regions, where men must con-
tend with this animal for dominion over
Nature, the former sometimes falls vie
tim, upon which the tiger begins to ac-
qure preference for the taste Of human
flesh aul when it has once devoted itself
to this novel form of chase-the pursuit
Of mar kind-it gets the name Of man
eater" Tie provincial justice nearest
the scene of his depredatlons calls out the
,huutsmen Of his district, who jim, under
his authority and guidance, IN the pur-
suit of the beast, which seldom escapes
| the consequences Of It's outlawry.
When our fugitive had proceeded six
leagues, he thought he heard the distant
roar Of the animal, and q shudder ran
through him. The roar Of the tiger re-
sambles the screcch Of 4 hog, but is pro-
lougeA, sharp and piercing, aud, evea
when there is no occasion for fear, causes
an involuntary tremor OF the nerves, as
if the flesh shuiiered consciously at the
menace OF death.
The roaring was heard clearer and
nearer. The tiger was already upon the
trail of III man, who saw no refuge bat
small carob-tree at great distance. -
He bad to quicken his pace, and finally
to run, fer the roars behind him began Il
! follow each other more rapidly, and eact
was clearer and more ringing than thl
last. At length. finginJ his riding gear
to one Side Of the path. the gaucho turn
ed to the tree which he had noticed, and
| IN spite of the weakness of the trunk. hap
PLY quite tail one. he succeeded IL
clamberiug to its top, and keeping him
self half concealed among it, boughS
which oscillated violently. Thence shC
could see the swift approach of the Tiger
shifting tie soil and roaring more ire.
quentIy in proportion to its increasing
IRE option of the nearnoss Of its prey
Passing beyond the spot where our ira
veler Lad left its path, it lo# the ira k
and, becoming enraged, rapidly ercircleC
about until it discovered the riding gear
which it dashed to fragments by u slng.t
blow. Sill more furious FROM this fail
ure, It resumed its search for the traa
ana at las, found out the direction Il
which it led. 1t soon discerned It's prey
under whose weight the slight tree wa