The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-12-25

AN EXPERIENCE. WITH the BEASTS,
TOLD sY A PARTICIPANT. E f.

Fight with an nnrarcd Mother and
Her Young.
For CITY years paul Gillctt. The old hunter
and Indian. trader. has been a conspicuous
fgure. in tie Colorado and Cila river dis.
trictS, lie has tekca part in. "a number OF
scVtre hfuShcs With the Apachcs and other
tribes, tut in bis old age. owing to The mill
tary forces on the frontier and the lessening
~ Indian difficulties. he Is now devoting
more attention % hunting
His eye Is yet undmmel aud t0ugh move
nearly 20 years % age he Is strong aud stall
wai't- IL would take book 70 tell OF h,s
varied experiences Moreover, De IS not n
chnod % talk much Of himself However,
be consented 70 toll an Examiner representa-
tive Of a strange cxIvuence he had With
royal Chihmhaa tigers. as ana animal OF
which nothing Is known quite 50 far north a.
san Francisco
"Gou must Know % said ie. "tLat these
tigers are tho most beautiful animals in
America. They are robust and seven or eight
feet long, q beautiful golden coie, and
spotted Ike a lcoparL The royal tiger OF
Bengal is striped and has no dots on him
Moreover, bis general color is dun, and not
gold, like the tiger OF the Aztec races
"A thorough gong cat in all bis move
mcnts, sly and beht Of tread, aud with the
strength Of "A Hercules, "a man cannot afford
tofooi around much whom he meets ono out
uuder the southern pinon trees
n was IN 81 tomher that myself Tim
Estabrook and John Wilkinson were ,amped
~ cur mines at tie head OF DolOres.canyon.
\ party OF Mexicans came In and reported
TIA, they Ind found an ola Spanish mine "A
few miles out. Tie Spanish mines were 90
large extent covered over and concealed at
ths time Of tho roS olution and many u them
we're lost Il was one Of these lost mines that
tie Mexicans said they had. We setoG after
-, carrying our eIrncss rifles With us. for we
never ia that section 90 out unarned, for
fear q renegade Apaches. let alone vicious
wa3 anlriak
WHAT WAS IN IHE NINE
"Atter an eighteen mile jsunt wc came 20
tie entrance % the mine The earth cover
ing had fallen va. and, though wreck and
ruin were an around. there was a good sized
aperture, and we had E0 difficulty in enter
ing 30. We had advanced about fifty yards
~ the long, desolate tunnel, aud if there is
anything GcsOhte I'D this world 10 !, the dark,
damp tuunel of deserted mine We carried
pine faIois in one hand % give us light, and
were moving along in a STOPPING posture. ~
miners 60, when ai of sudden 1 noticed
great big tracks ia the soft mud al the bot
tom Cool Leavcnsf said /, there arr
tears in here. and i we don't get cut we arc
zone for We beat a hasIy retreat, and
reaching The open air again gathered dry
bushes and sticks 90 smoke them out We
stacked them Up pretty high % the mouth Of
ile tunnel onl threw dirt ou them 10 cause
them @ smolder aud throw ;ho smoke back
vait,
"lh5c we sat down with our guns To await
the eneny We had sat there fifteen or
twenty Iainutes. and were tired holding the
guns 50 loas and began TO talk about other
things Sth nothing came We discussed
variety of a1hJects cur attention became
entirely rclaxet sind was in the midst of
story when booa' i.s'.! uugo golden tiger
ieapei over tie fire ond as with a great
bound In a twink'ag another, with the
slmo looh' tooh and bigger than the other,
ioapod tho barrier. c0lliei against Esta-
brook. knocked him down aui went flying
beyond hle a creased streak o.. li-i timing
Every last one Of us forgot his gun and
went racing around try.u- % lnl trees t.
Climb An old she tiger and two kittens
with piercing yoWls next followed aud went
clamberng up the hillside after the other
two. rs this tame every ono o. us was either
rerchci In tree or shining mp a sapiing.
Our guns were lying scattered on the ground.
ard. old hunters as we were, We were clearly
beaten
"Perched in our trees, after our fright was
o5er, We indul-ed in loud ebrieas and laugh
tor Tia situation was too ludigous.
a SUCCESSFUL TRIP
but We resolved 70 60 after these tigers,
and We did it We Dot a skilled Mexican
trailer r. 80. with as. and We traced them
across Enlches. through shrubs. and finally
caught e glimpse Of ono peFched in q rocky
cleft Wilkinson brought hm down boy
shot in tho heart. llo was very iine one.
large and powerful, and with "a magnificent
skim
Into the next canyon we traced The other
tigers They Travelled almost together going
only fifteen OF twenty icet apar, in places
The Mexican at last c0T4i'4d them IN a soft
limestone mountain, crumblng no places like
chalk, aud with holes il ons side made by
weather aud animals. It wss their other re-
treat. This time, while We made prepare
tions 70 smoke them out, We stationed our
selves a hundred yards away, spread far
apart, 80 We could get good AIM az their
bodies while they ran. The first came bound
INK ont like a shot out Of a gun, but we were
Oh the alert this time, and three bullets
rierced him and laid him low.
Then the old oue and her young came
along. We shot into them, Woundng the
liz one, and she turned on rs. Estabrook
was caught and his coat torn of. Turning
q Zee, the tiger caught nm BY the LEFT hand
aud purrcf teeth Through 1t and crushed o.
The Kittens. weighing about 100 pounds
apiece, would not run and advanced 10 aid
in Tie fight rife hall from one Of as
crippled one and laid be other low, and on
we rushed, firing ell the while, 10 the aid OF
Fstabrook Some say we missed the brute
We had 10 fire with Che greatest care, 70
keep from hitting the native, and 10 seemed
% ne that IL wes fully five minutes before
we planted a fatal ball iu iler.
"Estabrook was 50 badly manned by the
teeth Of the tiger that be has never recov-
cred from it. Ills hand wRs 80 tom that two
Of his fingers hung by shreds Of flesh, ana his
arm above the wrist was also laceraied.
"TLese tiger skins arc very valuable and
we sold the Two big ones ia Los Angeles at
terward Tor $50 each. I1ie little ones brought
sOeach They were 80 fise aud soft that
they are now la the parlors Of ". Il. Robert I
son. al Los Angeles, more as On ornament
than Tor use.
This was the closest call ever had With
any Wild animals Bear. deer and other I
einds Of game on the borders bave killed IN
large numbers but there is nothing on the
frontier now that is 81 yicicis as tbs tiger"
san Francisco E',aBmer
Tie Kicker.
really and truly believe that the day viii