San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-01-17
THE ROYAL TIGER.
AN EXPERIENCE WITH THE BEASTS,
TOLD BY A PARTICIPANT.

smoking Them Out OF q Deserted Hunos
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 conspicuous
figure in the Colorado and ella river dis
tricts He has taken part in 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
of Indian difficulties, he is now devoting
more attention to hunting.
His eye Is yet undimmed, and though now
nearly 20 years Of age he is strong and stall
wart 1t would take a book to tell of his
varied experiences. Moreover he is not in
clined to talk much Of himself. However,
he consented to tell an Examiner representa-
tive Of 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 he, shat these
tigers are the most beautiful animals in
America They are robust and seven or eight
feet long, a 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
strength of a Hercules, a man cannot afford
to fool around much when he meets one out
under the southern pinon trees.
at was in September that myself, Tim
Estabrook and John Wilkinson were camped I
at our mines at the head Of Doloressscanyon. ]
party of Mexicans came in and reported /
that they had found an old Spanish mine al
few miles out. The Spanish mines were to a
large extent covered over and concealed at
the time of the revolution, and many of them
were lost. 1t was one Of these lost mines that
the Mexicans said they had We set of after
it, carrying our express rifles with US, for we
never in that section go out unarmed, for
fear of renegade Apacbes, let alone vicious
wild animals.
WHAT WAS IN THE NINE.
"After an eighteen mile jaunt we came to
the entrance of the mine. The earth cover
ing had fallen in, and, though wreck and
ruin were all around, there was a good sized
aperture, and we had no difficulty in enter
ing il. We had advanced about fifty yards
In the long, desolate tunnel, and if there Is
anything desolate in this world it is the dark,
lamp tunnel of a deserted mine. We carried
pine fagots in one hand to give us light, and
were moving along in STOPPING posture, as
miners go, when all of a sudden | noticed
great big tracks in the soft mud at the bot
tom. Good heavensr said |, there are
bears in here and if we don't get out we are
done for We beat hasty retreat, and
reaching the open air again gathered dry
bushes and sticks to smoke them out We
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.
Then 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 l was in the midst of a
story when booh boohi huge golden tiger
leaped over the fire and us with a great
bound. In twinkling another, with the
same boohI boohl and bigger than the other,
leaped the barrier, collided against Esta-
brook, knocked him down and went flying
beyond like a CREASED 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
Nth piercing yowls next followed and went
laundering up the hillside after the other
two. By this time every one of us was either
perched in a tree or shining up sapling.
Our guns were lying scattered on the ground,
and, old hunters as we were, we were clearly
beaten.
"Perched in our trees, after our fright was
over, we INDUCED 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 so with US, and we traced them
across gulches, through shrubs, and finally
caught glimpse of one perched in a rocky
cleft. Wilkinson brought HIM down by a
shot in the heart. He was a very fine one,
large and powerful, and with magnificent
skin.
Into 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 i'll one side made by
weather and animals 1t was their other re-
treat This time, while we made prepare
tions to smoke them out, we stationed our
selves a hundred yards away spread far
apart, so we could get q 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
big one, and she turned on MS. Estabrook
WAS cauCht and his coat form off T,,r,i,,r,