The west Tennessee star. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1888, 1888-08-31


one a leverage on the other. ] have
known of a full-grown tiger being
caught by the foot and firmly held in a
trap no larger than the boys set for
mink and muskrat. We replaced the
chain with a half-inch rope made OF
native grasses, and as soon as suit
Oble spot had been selected we exca-
waited a hole, buried the trap out Of
sight, and then bent down a sapling
and tied the end of the rope to it. This
sapling was held down by a trigger
which a sharp pull would release.
When the trap had been set no one
could detect any thing suspicious
around the spot, and we felt certain
that the creature would get into
trouble if he passed that way. When
we could do no more we retired to the
village, about a mile away. 1t was
about shutdown when we arrived, and
we were just in time to see a wonder
full proceeding. A large and savage
looking hyena came out of the jungle
and shifted and snuffed and grOwled at
US from a distance of about twenty
rods. We refrained from shooting,
for fear the reports would brighten the
mau-wolf away, and while a hundred
of US stood gazing at the beast another
object suddenly appeared. 1t was the
same creature l saw from the ham
mock.
1T is the man-wolf!' moaned q score
of natives in chorus, and at least
dozen of them skunk away into their
huts.
But the man-wOlf had not come to dis
turb US. He had evidently been track
ing the hyena, and he was there for
revenge, He bounded over the ground
with great leaps, and the hyena did not
suspect his approach. The last bound
was a tremendous curve in the air,
and as the man-wolf came down it was
full upon the hyena's back. He uttered
a terrible scream as he struck, and the
hyena gave vent to something like a
shrek They rolled over and over on
the ground, biting, clawing, growing
and gurgling, but the fight did not last
over sixty seconds. Then the man
wolf sprang up, shook himself and
uttered a yell of triumph, and after
threatening US for a couple of minutes
re-entered the jungle. We went out
to the body of the hyena, and its con-
dition gave US a strong idea of the
man-wOlfs fighting powers. One ear
was torn off, both eyes plucked out,
two legs broken, its tongue bitten
| nearly off and it had several horrible
gashes in the belly. 1t was plain that
the creature was a match for lion
or tiger, and we began to feel very
uneasy. By the advice of the head
man we built several extra fires and
kept sharp lookout. Ts%-a
''The fellow Is evidently very an
gryP" explained the old man. ''You
are white men, and he is not pleased
at your coming. Perhaps he has been
told you are here to capture him"
'But who could have told himP"
''He had a cousin who was turned
into a vulture for striking his father,
and another cousin who was turned
into a serpent for cursing our faith.
Either one may have carried the man
wolf the news"
We placed sentinels on the watch
when ready to turn in, but every thing
passed off quietly until about midnight.
l Then a succession of shrieks and
! screams and roars brought every man,
woman and child out of sleep, with a
bound l had no other thought than
that the man-wolf had seized one of
/ the sentinels, but as 1 leap out of the
hut one called to me:
"Sahib, you have caught the beast
in your trapr'
! 1t was a mile, as / have told you,
from the village to the spot where we
had set the trap, and yet the screams
seemed closed at hand. When the
news went round that there was no
danger, the village soon quieted down,
but there was no further sleep for any
one. Whether caught or not, the
creature seemed fastened to one local
ity for the remainder of the night, and
of all proceedings l ever knew a wild
beast to indulge in his were the worst.
He had voice as strong as a lions,
and he was not quiet for two minutes
at a time. He roared, screamed,
shrielxed, lamented and growled, and
the wind brought us every sound. He
still had a full head of steam on when
daylight came, and after hasty
breakfast a party of twenty of us
moved in his direction. He probably
heard us coming, for his anger was
freshly aroused, and pretty soon we
could hear him tearing at the bushes.
/ am free to say that the first sight
of the man-wOlf, caught by the hind
foot in the trap, and hanging head
downward from the swaying sappling,
took the courage out OF me sooner than
as If had met tiger face to face on
the path. He hung about three feet
from the earth, and as far as he could
reach in every direction he had pulled
up the bushes by the roots. He was
as supple as a monkey, and could dOu-
BILE himself up and reach the trap,
but, strong as he was, he could not
spring the jaws open and release his
/ foot. There was foot of chain be
fore he could get to the rope, and the
way he bit on that chain made us hold
our breaths. Had it been Of soft iror
I have no doubt he would have cut Il
in two He had been caught when we
first heard him scream out, and had
been suspended for over four hours
You would have thought he would be
exhausted with pain and struggling
but he was not As soon as. we came
near him he made such tremendous
efforts to get away, or to get at us
that all the natives fed in terror.
We quickly understood that We
could do nothing with the beast unit
he had lost his strength and temper
and we returned to the village Rnl
left him hanging. All that day hs
yelled out every two or three minutes
and all that night we heard from him
at intervals. On the second morning