The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1886-11-20


the village was in the circle around the |
dead beast. Every body supposed the mate |
had made off for the jungles, as would |
be the case nineteen times out of twenty, ,
but we were sadly mistaken, While we |
stood in circle, with eight or ten
torches Lighting the scene, the male
tiger seized woman who stood not
over ten feet from me, and, even before
a cry was raised, had disappeared in the
darkness The Lieutenant and myself
fired every shot we had in the direction
taken, hoping to frighten or wound the
beast, and Wiling to take the chances
of hitting the woman, but we threw our
bullets away. The victim had child
about two years old in her arms, and
she carried this forty or fifty feet before
releasing it, AS she did not utter single
cry, we concluded that the tiger had
struck her fatal blow as he sprung up
on her. The husband and three or four
children were there, and they set up
such a wailng that it was relief when
they were conducted to their hat at the
other end of the village. That tiger was
my thirteenth, and Darlington had
killed fully as many, but as We com
pared notes we agreed that We had
never known such an instance. A tiger
which is fired at from ambush and not
hit is overcome by fright, and will travel
for miles before hating, ormake straight
for his den and lie close for the next
twenty-four hours. That is the rule, but
here was startling exception. The
tiger had not only not been frightened
away by the reports Of our guns and tho
shouts of the natives, but had remained
to select a victim at his leisure, and that
with torches blazing in his face and a
deafening Misunderstanding. We could
naturally and Justly conclude that he
was man-eater of the most vcngeful
dispos ton.
"When morning came we took up
the spoor and trailed the tiger and his
victim to grove half mile away.
He had only half devoured tie body,
proving that hunger had rot forced
him to display such boldness. He had
taken his full time about eating, and
had then made for the hills. Some of
the native crackers could follow his trail
on the run, and they came upon two
places where the beast had turned in
his tracks, as if he contemplated re-
turn to the village and the seizure of
another victim. The Grail was followed
to the mouth of a dark, dry gully, with
a rocky bottom and sides lined with
bushes, and the natives would 90 no
further One of them was despatched to
our camp with word to come over, and in
q couple of hears there were five of us
white men or the ground with deter
mination to hunt the big cat TO his
death. A body of natives were sent off
up the hill to beat the gully. and we
took our stations in crescent, each man
facing the hill, and none of us over 100
feet from the spot where the trail had
been abandoned. 1t turned out that the
gully did not penetrate the hill for more
than quarter of mile, and after a
| little the natives got on both sides of il
end began to beat toward us. While
some beat horns and beat drums, others
| kept up fire of stones into the gully,
and we felt that the tiger must show
himself. The only fear was that his tenn.
per would boil over and he would clam.
Der up the side of the gully and attack
the heaters. A frightened tiger would
have sought to Chamber out instead OF
following the gully down to the plain,
and once he started to bolt nothing
would have stopped him.
1.-The heaters had been at work hal
an hour when we heard cry announce
ing that the man-cater was making his
way toward the plain. hustled along
somewhat by the vollcy of stones, but
sharpening his claws and growing de.
tiance. In taking up our positions il
so happened that Lieutenant Firing
ton was on my right, in line with The
mouth of the gully, and not more thar
twenty feet from my elbow. He had {
double-barclcd rifle of heavy calbre
while had a repeater. In three OF
four minutes after the cry OF warning
the tiger appeared in the mouth of thu
gully, head onto Harrington, and look
ing him straight in the face.
"'Hold on. He's my meat' shouted
the officer as he brought his gun up
and it became a point of honor with tn
rest of us to hold our fire. He took coo
and careful aim, but his bullet simpl
touched the skin between the tiger
ears. He dropped like a stone, but wa
up in an instant, and, with a roar t
snake any man S nerves, he sprang fol
ward at the Lieutenant. In the tent
!. of second turned my eyes from tn
beast to the officer, and what was m
: horror to see serpent twining itse
! about his leg and rearing its head on
1 level with his shoulder. | forgot a
| about the oncoming tiger, and for tn
' first time in my life my blood SCENE
c turned to ice. Harrington stood wit
his left food ahead and his right brace,
5 and as the tiger touched the ground f
' his last spring the rifle spoke again an
e the beast 70 led over with ball throuo
his brain, Then, while we all kept o.
. places like SO many blocks of stone,
. dropped his rifle, seized the snake iu
t below tie head with his right hand, an
came walking toward us. The serpel
G Wr thed and twisted ahout in ire ~ ~