River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1888-06-07
A NAVIGATING TIGER.
An Adventure in the Jungles of
Southern India.

since ] Killed the mau-eauuE tiger;
but ! remember it all n wildly as If
10 happened YESTERDAY. aud rs l write
the wh Die wild scene rises before me
the group Of half clothed natives glOat-
ing with eager faces over the corpse of
their enemy. tlie waving palm-trees
above anil a for the heat. / can
almost Iest that. It was far away i'm
southern India. the home Of the Roy al
Bengal tiger that the adventure took
place
Ynu must know. first If all that the
tiger IS seen cooped up in a cage at
some circus. or in n geological garden.
j. very different from the animal rs he
appears in his native Jungle In the
circus he IS So ''cabined. cribbcd con-
fined, ihai lac is never able properly
to stretch his muscles aud the roar
with which he grccts the keeper who
is bringing his food resembles the
roar with which he awakens the
echoes If the forest as the piping
of a tin trumpet resembles the screech
of a steam whistle. II is difficult to
describe the roar Of tiger when he is
angry. Il Is not like the lions. which
is more nearly q ''bellow." but per-
haps Won can realize it when / say that
II is as if "a thousand tom-cats gave one
wild aad prolonged meow Tigers
are generally hunted in two ways:
ono is. shooting from the h0IOdGh of a
pad elephant. which is a compar-
ativeIy safe method. aud the other is
TO shoe. them from a B,eechauDi. OF
platform Il boughs fixed in tree.
When the latter method is adopted a
bait. in the form Of a bullock either
alive or deal. is generally usel 10 at
tract tie tiger; or else the meechgHBI
Is built within range of the place to
which the animal Is accustomed TO
come for his morning drink. The
latter j. perhaps the commOner way,
a. shooting tigers from the back Of an
elephant Is rather expensive work and
only within reach of those who have
long purses.
Il was during the hot weather of
1876 that in company with a friend
who was an officer III one of the native
Indian regiments | went on
shooting expedition for few Il avs in
TravaucOrc. Southern India. We were
some days march from any English
Set,lement. ant were on our way to
pass the night NJ a native village. said
by our guide % he near at hand. We
had with Us two S0DTrS. or troopers.
Of my friends regiment. who
acted ~ stiEqrees. or hunt
hn
make themselves generally useful in
camp. We were not looking especially
for tigers. but were ready for any
thing that came; aud we soon arrived
a. tine village where we were to pass
the night
What lovely place it was. and how
cool and pleasant it seemed to our
tired eyes and overhea Ell bodies! Il
was was built on the shore Of small
lake. or ''tank. ami was shaded by
groves Of palm and cocOanut trees.
and altogether there was an aspect of
peace about IL that was very pleasing.
Bat when we came near. we were
considerably astOnished TO hear
none Of the usual signs
Of welcome. Usually. when a Eu-
ropean enters a native village. he is
saluted by the furious barking of in
Vulnerable ours. and the inhabitants
eagerly lock 10 see the SGbib But
now all thiS was wanting. and every
thing was as silent as the grave. Not
sign # the inhabitants was to be
seen. and. n VIC went from door to
..rI Fus1~sA 80
find liyiag soul. we thought we had
found city Of the dead. We were
about 10 give up our quest. when from
one Of the hUis there crawled man.
lent with age. Slowly he approached
with many su'GHmS. and in reply 10
our queries rs To what had become Of
the rest 81 the inhabitants. Informed
us that they had all forsaken the town
on account Of a mau-catiug tiger. He
was the only person left. being too old
10 leave his home. He informed rs
that the terrible tiger had visited the
village threc times. ami each time had
borne away a victim. Then the peO-
pie could endure the danger no longer.
aud all had fled.
"Bu,. OH continued the old man,
"all will % RICH now; the saEibs will
sIay the tiger and once more the peO-
pic can come back II their beautiful
village" We agreed 10 make At least
an attempt 10 Kill the tiger, but were
considerably handicapped by the lack
az guide who knew the ground where
the tiger generally Law. The old man
D. Il. L..
momentarily expecting visit { rom
his grandson. who was 10 bring him
soire rice. and that the grandson could
fetch zome q the villagers 10 act as
guides. Accordingly We decided to
remain IN the village all night. aud 10
staytuuyn the tiger trail, in the morn
inc.
soon after we had encamped the old
mans grandson appeared We sent
message by him to the villagers that
We were there To >lay the tiger. and
asked them 10 send their best hunters,
with a bullock TO be used for bait
We had our own tent with Us. and
this we set up on the outskirts of the
village. Knowing thas there was
= NlAtl-GAaEE III AaAt Ata- NtA A0ttAs ~
bchooved Us to keep the closest watch
during the night. In order 10 do This
moro ,fTectuaIly. we built big fire
and divided the night into watches
Olc Of the SORTS hail first watch.
and Nc gave him strict orders that
he was not TO sleep even 50 much as 4
wink. for his life depended upon his
vigilance. a tiger viii never hesitate
10 attack sleeping man. and he
crawls up 80 quietly that the victim
has no warnin. Of the crafty animals
attack until the cailike spring is made
upol he prey. We ourselves lay
down inside the tent. previously. how
ever. covering the sights Of our rides
with pieces Of white cotton. so that
Ne might have something 10 guide Us
II we should have to aim them sud
denly in the dark. Ii seemed to me
that my eyes had hardly been closed
for i've minutes. when l was startled
b. the most uRearlhly SHREK ] ever