St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1886-02-27

p1OdCH, duu VI HIS iAuu1cusC oIIOAS oA'
Near village herd boy had been
killed, and I was one day shown the
body of COW which tiger had just
struck down. 1t lay close to some
rather thin jungle, near ridge of low
rocks, a few large trees, such as man
goes, were interspersed in the brush
wood, and the ground was covered
with dried-up leaves so crisp that it
seemed impossible for an insect even to
pass over them without being heard.
1t was then about noon, and | deter
mined to sit up for the tiger, who, we
knew, would come again at nightfall
or before next morning to devour the
carcass. A charpoy or small bedstead
was speedily procured from the village
and dashed across the fork of mango
tree, within few PAGES of the carcass
of the COW. Before sunset l and my
companiowswere escorted to the spot
by body of armed natives. | disem-
barrassed myself of huge sola. or pith
hat, which | placed on the ground near
the tree, and in it deposited brace
of revolvers which thought would be
useless in our elevated position. also
took off, and left at the foot of the tree,
pair of thick shooting shoes, and then,
with the help of my village friends,
gained the charpoy and prepared to
wait for the tiger. How patient
ly we waited! Loins, and back
bones, and necks and legs grew sitter
and sitter, and ached YEARLY. but not
sound did we utter, and still we sat.
At last we got tired of waiting and a
few remarks were whisperingly uttered:
i don't think he's coming, i think
he heard those fellows and he is OFT,
etc., etc. Gradually such feeble sug.
gestions gave way to positive asser-
tons, delivered in a tolerably audible
tone, and at last I declared that l
would wait no longer and descended to
the ground. My first act was to get
my shoes, and while putting them on
and chatting without further restraint,
l remarked that it would be as well to
call the guides, and accordingly did
SO. Hardly had the word passed my
lips when an abrupt startling roar from
a thicket within few feet of me petri-
fed me with amazement. Never had [
been so wretchedly helpless. Stand
ing unarmed at the foot of the tree, l
had one shoe off and was about to put
on the other. While expecting every
minute to be my last, | felt sure that
any attempt to climb back to my perch
would be the signal for the tiger to
seize me. To remain standing there
was equally disagreeable. My revolv-
ers came to my recollection. They
were lying in my hat, but the hat lay
somewhatin the direction of the thicket.
1t was trying moment, but in another
moment found myself striding toward
the hat, one shoe off and the other on,
and hardly conscious of what | did. l
remember grasping the revolvers, cock
ing them, and, with the barrels leveled
toward the bush, which steadily faced,
shutting sideways to the tree. The
feel of the trusty weapons in my hand
was comforting, and at length l
reached the tree on the side furthest
from the thicket, and went up it like a
lamp-hghter, although on my first
arrival had required the assistance of
other peoples arms and shoulders.
When I got up | fired right into the
bush, just as our escort came up with
lighted torches, and we returned to our
tent in the village.
Next morning I repaired to the
scene of our nights vigil. The cow
was gone, and broad trail showed
which way she had been dragged. At
about hundred yards from our mango
tree, and near the foot of the rocks,
lay the stomach and entrails and pool
of blood. Further on was a spot
where the tiger had been rolling. The
marks were plain, with some of his
hair lying where the ground had been
pressed down. And on ledge on the
summit of perpendicular rock lay the
carcass of the COW, partly eaten away.
The tiger must have jumped upon the
ledge with the cow in his mouth; there
were no other means of ascent. The
prodigious power of the animal may be
conceived from such feat. | didn't
get the tiger that day, but I did few
days afterward.
II can not call to mind having met
in any book with an accurate descrip-
ton Of the tigers cries. The snarling
and growing of the animal when
stirred up with long pole is familiar
to all who have visited menagerie,
and appears to be the only noise the
creature makes when in state of cap
tivity; but in his native forest, in the
long nights of the cold season when the
woods on the hills seem to sleep in the
moonlight, the tiger striding along in
his native forest news like an old tom
Gator rather like hundred old tom
cats in chorus. 1t is loud and harsh
and grating NEW. 1t is seldom heard
more than twice or thrice. When the
tiger is on the lookout for food, usually
in the evening, he lies silent and mo-
tionless in some dense covert close to
water, where animals resort to drink,
and when one of these approaches near