Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-01-07
THE ROYAL TIGER.
AN EXPERIENCE WITH THE BEASTS. . TOLD BY A PARTICIPANT,

l TOLD BY A PARTICIPANT.
 smoking Them Out of a Deserted Mine.
 Old Hunters Who Forgot Their Guns-A
 Fight with an Enraged Mother and
 Her Young.
 For fifty years Paul Gillett, the old hunter | and Indian trader, has been a conspicuous figure in the Colorado and Gila river dis tricts. He has taken part ill a number of
 severe brushes with the Apaches and other tribes, but in his old age, owing to the mill tary forces on the frontier and the lessening l of Indian difficulties, he is now devoting more attention to hunting.
 His eye is yet undimmed, and though now nearly 70 years of age he is strong and stall wart. It would take a book to tell of his l varied experiences. Moreover, he is not in- clined to talk much of himself. However, be consented to tell an Examiner representa- tive Of 8 strange experience he had with royal Chihuahua tigers, as an animal of
 which nothing is known quite so far north as San Francisco
 You must know," said be- "that these tigers are the most beautiful animals in ] America They are robust and seven or eight 1 feet long, beautiful golden color, and spotted like leopard. The royal tiger of
 Bengal is striped and has no dots on him.
 Moreover, his general color is dun, and not gold, like the tiger of the Aztec races. | "A thorough going cat in all his move ments, sly and light of tread, and with the
 trength of a Hercules, a man cannot afford | to fool around much when he meets one out under the southern pinon trees.
 Ut was in September that my elf, Tim Estabrook and John Wilkinson we1 camped 1 at our mines at the head of Dolore. anyon l A party of MexicanS came in and ported that they had found an old Spanis .nine a ! few miles out. The Spanish mines re to large extent covered over and COT Jed at the tune or the revolution, and ma i them l were lost. It was one of these lost es that the Mexicans said they had. Wes f after 1t, carrying our express rifles with for we never in that section go out un, ed, for fear of renegade Apaches, let ale vicious wild animals.
 1 WHAT WAS IN THE MIN | After an eighteen mile jaunt came to the entrance of the mine. The e rth cover ing had fallen in, and, though wreck and ruin were all around, there was good sized aperture, and we had no difficulty in enter ing 1t. We had advanced about fifty yards ill the long, desolate tunnel, and if there is 1 anything deSolate in this world it is the dark damp tunnel of a deserted mine We carried 1 pine fagots ill one hand to give us light, and l were moving along in stopping posture, as miners go, when all of a sudden I noticed great big tracks in the soft mud at the bot | tom. Good heavensr said I, there are l bears in here and if we don't get out we are l done for.' We beat a nasty retreat, and | reaching the open air again gathered dry | bushes and sticks to smoke them out. We 1 stacked them up pretty high in the mouth of the tunnel and threw dirt on them to cause | them to smolder and throw the smoke back | ward
 linen we sat down with our guns to await the enemy. We had sat there fifteen or twenty minutes, and were tired holding the guns so long and began to talk about other things. Still nothing came. We discussed variety of subjects; our attention became entirely relaxed, and 1 was in the midst of a story when booh! booh! huge golden tiger leaped over the fire and us with a great bound. In a twinkling another, with the same booh! booh! and bigger than the other, leaped the barrier, collided against Esta- brook, knocked him down and went flying beyond like a greased streak of lightning.
 "Every last one of us forgot his gun and went racing around trying to find trees to climb. An old she tiger and two kittens with piercing yowls next followed and went clambering up the hillside after the other two. By this time every one of us was either perched in tree or shining up sapling. Our guns were lying scattered on the ground, and, old hunters as we were, we were clearly beaten.
 "Perched ill our trees, after our fright was over, we indulged in loud shrieks and laugh ter. The situation was too ludicrous.
 SUCCESSFUL TRIP.
 "But we resolved to go after these tigers, and we did it. We got skilled Mexican trailer to go with us, and we traced them across gulches, through shrubs, and finally caught a glimpse of one perched in a rocky cleft. Wilkinson brought hlm down by a shot in the heart. He was a very fine one. large and powerful, and with a magnificent skin.
 Unto the next canyon we traced the other tigers. They travelled almost together, going only fifteen or twenty feet apart in places The Mexican at last corralled them in a soft limestone mountain, crumbling in places like chalk, and with holes in one side made by weather and animals It was their other re- treat. This time, while we made prepara- tlons to smoke them out, we stationed our selves hundred yards away, spread far apart so we could get good aim at their bodies while they ran. The first came bound ing out like shot out of gun, but we were on the alert this time, and three bullets pierced him and laid him low
 ''Then the old one and her young came | along. We shot into them, wounding the l big one, and she turned on us. Estabrook | was caught and his coat torn off. Turning to flee, the tiger caught him by the left hand | and put her teeth through it and crushed it. The kittens weighing about 100 pounds apiece, would not run and advanced to aid in the light. A rife ball from one of us crippled one and laid the other low, and on | we rushed, firing all the while, to the aid of Estabrook. Some say we missed the brute. We had to fire with the greatest care, to keep from hitting the native, and it seemed to me that it was fully five minutes before we planted a fatal ball in her.
 "Estabrook was so badly maimed by the teeth of the tiger that he has never recov- cred from it. His hand was so torn that two of his fingers hung by shreds of flesh, and his arm above the wrist was also lacerated
 ''These tiger skins are very valuable and we sold the two big ones in Los Angeles af- terward for $50 each. The little ones brought $a0 each. They were SO fine and soft that they are now in the parlors of W. H. Robert son, at Los Angeles, moro as an ornament than for uSa