The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1886-12-30

that he was certainly coming my way l
felt a Jingle of excitement all through
my nerves, and at once shouted to the
sleeping servant. He cast off sleep and
sprang up, and 1 suppose this action
saved me, for the cobra had already
raised its head as high as the hammock.
As the native sprang up he could have
touched the snake. He saw it before
him, uttered a shrek of terror, and
next instant was a victim. I saw the
snake strike him repeatedly in the face.
1 think the poor fellow lost conscious
ness with the first attack, for the one
scream was all he uttered.
The alarm seemed to go all over the
village in a moment, and the people at
once fastened up with drums, articles
of tinware, and whatever would create
a din. They also shouted at the tops
of their voices, and for a minute or two
the cobra seemed undecided whether
to attack me or beat a hasty retreat. l
was sick and dizzy with the terror and
the odor, and made no move to help
myself. That was doubtless the wisest
policy. l could have only emptied my
self out of the hammock upon the
ground beside him. and he certainly
would have resented my presence.
Twice he reared up as if he intended
to strike me, but the noise alarmed
him. A young man finally came run
ming up with a blazing torch, and this
was hurled with such precision as to
alight directly upon one of the cobra's
folds. He must have been badly scorch-
ed, for he Kissed as loudly as an angry
gander, Topped himself about in a ter
rible way, and then went off to the jun
gle at a rapid rate. Then natives rush.
ed to the aid of their poor fellow, who
was unconscious and moaning in a pitt
full way. They had half a dozen reme-
dies on hand. but none of them was of
the least avail. He died in about thir-
ty-fve minutes, and the corpse was one
of the worst sights 1 ever beheld. 1t
turned green-black with the powerful
poison, and it swelled until n could
hardly believe the object had aver been
a human being. The natives examined
the face and reported that the serpent
had struck him five times.
About six weeks after the adventure
with the serpent, and while lying in
camp about thirty miles distant, a fine
opportunity was given meSto observe.
from a single standpoint the character
istics Of the rhinoceros. the tiger, and
a snake of a another species. We had
our camp in a village which was hall
deserted on account of the proximity Of
a bad rhinoceros and two or three man.
eating tigers. A bad r%hinoceros, it may
be explained, is the same thing as a bad
elephant. 1t is one that has lost in a
fair fight his leadership, and is driven
away in disgrace. The rhinoceros
isn't social, like the elephant, and sci.
dom more than two are found together.
Once in a while some old chap gets SC
ugly that there is no living with him,
and he is deserted until the spell passes
off. While bad he will fight any thing
that walks, flies, or swims, and in his
blind fury he will charge a thicket as
soon as a moving object.
About a mile from the village, and
reached by a path through the forest
was a pool, at which many wild ami
mails came to slake their thirst. We
went over one morning and built 6
| platform for one of us to stand on ir
| the branches of a convenient tree, and
then hunted about until we founG
places for my two companions on path'
which were beaten hard under the fee
| of thousands of animals. 1t was in the
dry season, and the pond was low
Therefore it might be expected that the
pool would be sought out by animals
from a great distance. Nothing of &C
count came to it in the daytime, as ex
perience had taught us. 1t is only aftel
shutdown that elephants, the rhinoceros
lions, tigers, panthers and such beasts
approach a pool to drink, especially if i
is in a hidden place. No doubt some o
them may go two or three days withon
water, but the hunter who takes hi
stand at a pool is always certain of hi:
game of some sort.
We set out for our stations about al
hour before shutdown. each of us hay
ing a native attendant to remaii
through the night. just before W
reached the pool, and while my ms,
was trotting along a few feet ahead O
. me, a jaguar leaped down upon hin
from a limb with a loud scream. Tn
beast rather Overshot his mark, blu
clawed the mans shoulder severely
The native uttered shouts of terror
and I fired a shot which missed tn
beast, and he licked his chops at me il
a savage manner and bounded away
The man could not 60 on with me-. H
was severely hurt and in great pain
and I told him to run back to the vii
lage for treatment and send GU
another man. He was off at once, an
l kept the path until reaching the poo
and then lost no time in ascending t
the scaffold. l had a heavy rifle an
plenty of cartridges, and in my be
the hunting knife usually carried.
was only when ready to ascend tn
platform that l discovered the absenc
of my pair of Colts with their powde
and bullets. Those things had bee
intrusted to my servant, and he ha
been in such a hurry to return to til
village that he had carried them o
with him. just then, however, til
loss of the pistols did not seem of muc
account to me. / climbed the platform
pulled my gun up after me, and pret1
! soon began to listen for the halloo
the man who would be SEM out to sta
| with me. 1 had reason to expect hi
/, before shutdown, for the distance WI
not great, and the natives move raI
idly on an errand, but the red orb di
appeared, the shadows of evening fel
and 1 heard nothing of him. 1 kne
| then that he would not come at all,
: it would be risking his life to enter Il
jungle after shutdown.