The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1886-03-31

l &sHuty I0AIoO4to AI1U Iuu VI vl&Of, NOT
| put on it's srmOr and muster ita forces in
q fratricidai ~ar. but to join with the Mort
| In generous rivalry t.r the rewards Of IL
dustry, for the fruits which follow inver
ton ard toll. And We, who were the vi,
tors. whit, We are proud OF the achiev,
| meuts, glory In the patriotism and will eve
| reverence the memory Of our soldier dead
should always remember that we bes
ev.nce our loyalty to the principles 10
| which they fought by trying to cement wit
| peaceful ties the Onion for which they died
A SEARCH FOR GAME.
''S.t-t-t-t!" hiesed Francisco, slidiu. from
the back Of an or on which he had bee
seated, and clutching my arm with gras]
that made the member numb for an hour
He crOuched with me In the sholte
Of the two bxsn forming our hunt
ngtrain. and pointed down thecourse ofth
arroyo, toward a broad plain, upon whicl
buck and doe OF the small brown species
Of deer common in Central America wers
Then he coolly reached up and took
lighted cigarro from between my lips ant
tossed it into the stream.
'Muy silenzio! much care!" he whispered
''or the deer will see us. and dash they viii
20 like lightning. Now, Don Enrique vii
show you how we hunt deer in Honduras.
With short goad, not more than twelve
inches long, he directed his OK to wall
along the stream's course in diagonal lint
toward the deer, ,purpoaina to break from
the shelter OF the woods into the oper
plain whereon the game was feeding at 9
point within easy rifle shot. He followed
close behind the slow moving OK, crouchinl
q as to be com. .letely hidden by ito body
and motioned ior me to follow his ex
ample, my well-trained beast going after
it's leader without hesitation.
The forest around US was 50 dense a. to
be impenetrable away from the course O.
the stream. Mahogany, ceiba, guanacaste
and wild guava trees-laced together by
the thorny vines Of the saparilla-mad
q Jungle which was dark at midday.
Macaws. with red breasts and head, yellow
wings and blue and red tails, flashed from
the tops Of the trees into the open space
formed by the arroyo which we were fol.
lowing, and harshly scolded when they
saw us.
Francisco shook his fist in mute anger at
their disturbance, but their criee did not
alarm the deer more than momentarily.
The beautiful spotted creatures-kueed deep
in grass and those beautiful flowers with
which the CHER portions OF Honduras are
SO plentiful!y blessed-looksd up at the
first cries OF the macaws, but ON sighting
the oxen calmly went ON cropping the her
bage and occasionally careseing each other,
until we had approached within twenty
yards Of the edge Of the forest. Then,
suddenly, Franc,sco's or stood still, tremb-
ling violently. at the same time start 6
fixedly toward a clump of .ticoral or Gala
bash trees, which grew in the center OF the
plain some rods beyond the deer.
A fuil-grown black tiger, with his legs bent
&C. that his belly brushed the grass, vas
sliding like snake out Of the shelter OF
the coppice. His eyes cleaned In his black
head like globes OF white lignt, and even
from our stand We could see his whiekered
upper lip wrinkle to a snarl and note the
slow waving OF Ills tail as he gathered him
self for sprirg upon the eunsuspicious deer.
It WIS a long leap to the buck. but the tiger
knew his powers and landed fair on the
slender creatures launches, bringing It
down ee essily aa eat erushes a nous :.
1t closed its ia wa or the deer q vsivot thr"at
and for lully Ave minutes lay on its victim,
making no motion that We could see.
80, senor," Francisco whispered, "eIie
tigre negro is much better game than deer.
We will kill him. Deer skins are worth only
Us eight reals for tigers ears. and we can
sell the skin for aa much more. Yes. we
will kill him."
But my rifle ia fit only for small game. y
said, iu fierce whisper. "and you--you
have nothing but q toasting fork!'
My contempt for his spear was returned
with inter at by Francisco's pitying glance
at the little Stevens rifle which carried.
He quickly tetheI ed the oxen to maEOR-
any tree-making no efforts ut quietness
during the operation. and thtn remarked
aloud:
"You think i can't kill him with this
toasting fork? What you bet can't? !
bet you a doubloon. bet you real. |
bet you anything you want can kill him!
Stay here. stay where you can see the light
best, and, Don Henrig0. you will ace this
toasting fork kill tiger. But il | don't
kill him, take care, then-cuidadO por dos
cuidado!-for your little rifle with his little
bird shot bullet against q mad tiger will
not be worth that"
He snapped his thumb and finger with q
report like a pistol shot, and before
could stop him dashed out into the plain
and ran full tilt toward the tiger, which
was still murnbl,ng the bloody throat OF its
quarry.
When it saw the adventurous Spaniard
running tow ard it the great cat lifted itseli
from the grass with growl that uncovered
it's yellow fangs. It stood AZ high aa a
four-months calf, and now that its size
could he compared with that OF the man
who was advancing to meet it, it was ap-
parent that from flank to nose the brute
could not measure less than seven feet.
That it had the courage to fight, | well
knew from the stories OF the Honduras
tigers prowess, which had been told me at
nv friends hacienda: and that it had the
strength to kill a man is we'll evidenced by
the hundreds OF cattle which yearly fall
victims to tigers in Central America. 80
great Ia the loss from this source that Tor
many years the authorities In the Prov
ince OF Olancho have paid out large sums
of money as bounty to the killers Of lions
and tigers. These bounties have given rise
to the profession OF tiger-killing in some
parts oi Honduras and Nicaraugua-the
tiger killers being locally known as tigrerOs,
and performing their dangerous work with
the help only OF II spear and knife. To the
functions of guide interpreter, and servant
for casual travellers through Honduras,
Francisco united the occupations OF deer
hunter and tigrsro, and now-stuDg by my
contemptuoua remarks about his native
lance-be was advancing to do battle with
a larger tiger than he would probably have
cared to attack while in a calmer mood.
With his mantle wrapped closely about
his left arm as q shield. the lance held by
it's middle in his right hand, he walked to
within ten yards Of the now furious brute.
It was flashing it's sides with frequent
quick awitchinga OF the tail, and Its growls
were momentary. With bis spear,
Francisco made hall lunge at the beast
which was OF course far out OF his reach,
and in the fash of an eyefid ths tiger settled
upon it's haunches, rose into the air and
came down full and fair upon the man, as
it had done a moment before upon the
deer. An OK could not have withstood the
shock. Francisco went down, and for A
second man and tiger rolled together In the
grass.
/ ran toward them, firing my rifle and
hoping thus to distract the brute's
attention long enough to give Francisco
time to rise in case he was not mortslly
hurt. But death was already busy with
victim. The victim was the tiger. Instead
Of alighting upon q deienseless man it had
come down upon the sharp spear point
and literally impaled itself. The next mo.
ment Francisco had leaped from the grass
where the shock had flung him, and pushed
the blade OF his sharp cuchillo, or knife,
INTO the beasts undulating neck, when he
ewiated IT, and suddenly brought It out