Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-11-07

time. There were plenty Of cattle lift
ers about and ever Sc many cattle
killed, but they were cheap and nobody
made any great fuss about tigers until
one fine day one of the brutes made q
mistake and carried off a herd-boy i'm
stead of a bullock.
"Then there was a great scare. Il
wasn't so much the loss of the herd-boy
that the people cared for, for one native
more or less don't matter much. but
you know when a tiger ono begins to
eat men, somehow he never stops until
he gets q dose of cold lead.
''Sure enough, it wasn't long after
that until two OF three wood-cutters
were picked off at the edge of the Jungle;
and then the brute got holder, came out
nearer the villages, and carried off two
or three women.
"Mind you, all this wasn't done to
any one neighborhood, but in half a
dozen different localities, sometimes
miles apart. One evening the brute
might be seen near a certain village,
and perhaps before the next morning
he would pounce upon some poor wretch
five or six miles of.
"When the people saw what a rest
less and hungry brute that fellow was,
you have no idea how badly scared they
were. Why, it was a perfect reign Of
terror. In half dozen villages or more
nobody felt safe for a single day. Most
of the cattle-herders refused to take
their cattle into the Jungle any more
either for love or money. and tile poor
brutes nearly starved. No wood-cut-
ter dared go into the jungle either, for
1t would be literally walking into the
jaws of death. Men did not dare to
set foot into the Jungle except in parties
OF a dozen or more.
"Of course the people stopped going
out after night, but the first thing any
body knew the old man-eatcr came and
took a man right out of Doraypore, and
got away with him. There were big
patches of thick jungle all about, and
tor all the natives could do the tiger
was safe enough. They hadn't a gun
of any kind that they could have killed
him with.
81 went out three times, l think. with
a lot OF good crackers and heaters from
the villages, and we tried our best to
bag the brute, but he was too smart
for us.
"Well, things went from bad to worse,
until finally n day a party of men
came up here post-haste to bring me
word that the night before the man
eater had actually carried off the grown
up daughter OF the headman of a little
village close to Doraypore. She was
seized on her w doorstep, Just after
dark, and carried Off right before her
mothers eyes. The headman begged
me to come down and try once more to
killthe brute. Well, of course dropped
everything, got my rifle ready-I
had only one good one then-and went
down to Doraypore.
The villagers had marked him down
as closely as they dared in expectation
OF my coming, and they knew very
nearly where he was SO early the next
morning with a dozen Of the best
crackers, and about fifty b%eaters, We set
out. [ heard afterwards that all the
rest of the villagers-Ment 10 their tenn
pies that day to ask their godsto give us
9csci 1i~ek.
"1he crackers Don led us to a large
patch OF thick, matted jungle IN which
the tiger was thought to be lying. We
posted several men up in trees to watch
the tiger whenever he ram and mark
him down. After:gcsting upa litsle. low,
scrubby tree with two crackers, close to
the point where VIC thought the tiger
would break cover, we gavethe signal Go
the beaters at the upper end Of the
thicket and the beat began. The men
worked along slowly. keeping we'll
together for safety, not making too
much noise, but quite enough to scare
any tiger. The heaters worked along
the edges of the patch, and before they
had gone more that half way down, the
man-eater skulked out of the bushes at
the lower end. l expected him to come
close to my tree, and he did start for
the nearest cover which was. beyond us,
just as we thought he would, but before
be got within anything like fair range,
he suddenly changed his course, and
made otf'rapidly in notllerdixection. He
twigged us, you see, and proposed to
give us q good wide berth. l drew up
and blazed away at him as he ran-iust
for luck-one barrel after" another, but
taking all disadvantages, together, l
of at a lively gait, growing at us until
ne Unsupported.
"Aftcr that we had to track him, and
it was nearly three hours before we
tiaa2ly !sa1ysd him in another Jungle
patch. 1t was about the hottest part Of
the day, and he didn't like to move, but
the bcaters finally drove him out. This
time he came u precisely where we
thought he wouldn't, and being clear
out of II reach, he skulked of without
my eve firing at him.
ale led us q fine chase the rest of that
day until late in the afternoon. just as
we We're talking about giving up the
hunt for that day, and going home, one
of the markers in Il tall tree nearest the
hills got terribly excited about some
thing, and began to wave his arms about
like maniac, and yelled out to us,
pointing toward the jungle in the direc-
ton the tiger had gone. Presently we
saw a cloud Of dust off that way, and a
little later a herd of cattle, rushing
wildly along q road leading from the
jungle toward Doraypore. We supposed
the cattle had met the tiger, and stam-
peded on the spot. AS quickly AS he
could, the marker slid down out OF his
tree, and came running toward US at the
ton OF his spccl. He came nm n]antinp