The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-06-19
Adventure with Il Panther,

The animal had already been wounded
by Il rifle ball. Having warned the village
slnkarcc to keep close behind me with the
heavy spear he had in his hand, began to
follow the wounded panther; but had
scarcely gone twenty five yards, when one
| OF the Dcntcrs who was on high ground,
beckoncd to me, and pointed little below
him, and in front Of me. There WAS the
large panther sitting out, unconccalcd, be-
tween two bushes, u dozen yards before me.
l could not, however, see his head and
whilst was thus delayed he came out with
Il roar, straight ut me. fired at his chest
with ball; and, as he sprang upon me,
the shot barrel was aimed ut his head. In
the next moment he seized my left arm and
the gun. Thus, not hcing able to use the
gun as club, forced it cross wise into his
mouth. lie bit the stock through in one
place, and whilst his upper fangs laceratcd
my arm and hand, the lower fangs went in
to the gun. His hind claws pierced my
left thigh. lie tried very hand to throw
me over. In the meanwhile the shikaree,
who, had lie kept the spear before him,
might have stopped the charge of the pun
thcr, had rctrcatcd some PAGES to the left.
lie had instead Of spearing the panther,
shouted out and struck him, using the spear
as club. In Il moment the animal was
upon him, stripping him of my shkar bar,
his turban, my revolving rifle, and the
spear. The man passed by me, hol'iing his
wounded arm. The panther then quietly
crouched five PAGES in front Of me. knew
my only chance was TO keep my eye upon
him. lie sat withall my dcspoilcd property
stripped from the shilarcc, around and I'M
der him. The first step | moved back
wards; keeping my eyes on the panther,
fell upon my back into thick bush, hav-
ing slipped upon the rock. Here ! was
still within one spring Of the animal, who
appeared, as far rs | could see, to be
not at all disabled by the fight. Nothing
could have saved ne had he again attacked.
rctreatcd step by step, my face still towards
the Toe, till got to my horse, and to the
other bcatcrs, who were all collected to-
gethcr some forty yards from the fight.
Immediately loaded the gun with charge
OF shot and bullet that by chance found
and taking my revolver out of the holster,
and sticking il into my belt, determined to
carry on the affair TO its issue, knowing how
rarely men recover from such wounds us
mine. was bleeding profuscly from large
tooth-wounds In the arm the tcndons of
my left hand were torn open, and had five
.'"" h'u'"'o III liC tliSI. L nc pbOr DILL
karcc's arm was somewhat clawcd up, and
II the panther was not killed, the supersti-
ton Of the natives would go far to kill this
man. Terribly frightened as he was, his
wounds were not SO bad as mine. | per
suadcd my horsckeepcr to come with me :;
and, taking the hog spear he had in his
hand, we went to the spot where lay the
weapons stripped from the shikarcc. a
few yards beyond them o,uurlicu the
huge panther. Again, could not sec his
head very distinctly, but fired deliberately
behind his shoulder. In one moment he
was again upon me. gave him the charge
of shot, as | supposed, in his face, but had
no time to take aim. The horsckccpcr, in
stead of spcaring, fell upon his back. In
the next instant the panther got hold of my
left foot with his teeth, and threw me on
my back. | struck at him with the empty
gun, and he seized the barrels in his mouth.
This was his last effort sprang up, and
scizing the spear from the horsclieeper
drove it with both hands through his side,
and thus killed him. l Immediately had
my boot pulled off. My foot bled profuse-
.ly. Fortunately, the wound was in the
thin part of the foot, and not in the instep
or ankle; but the teeth had met.