Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1890-11-08
A TALE OF ADVENTURE.

A TALE OF ADVENTURE.
The railroad line from Lucknow TO La
hore, India, runs through a country
where the tiger and panther yet crouch
within sound of the car wheels, and
where almost every train passing up and
down cuts serpents in two as they crawl
over the tracks from cover to cover. |
heard it stated over and again that three
surveyors lost their lives for every
mile of the road, and if this had not
been true the company would not have
employed me in the capacity it did.
When the grading began at Lucknow,
or, rather, after it had progressed a few
miles to the west, took the advance
with party of fourteen natives. My
title should have been, "The Honorable
Tiger Slayer and Serpent Killer to the
Honorable Lucknow and Western Rail
road Company" l was employed to
protect the railroad hands, and the posi-
tion was far from being siuecure
~ 10 az N1ll w SidSG ilON Nc NGiG bttt-
fitted. We had two horses and carts
and an elephant. The latter had been
used very often for hunting, and was a
wary and intelligent beast He WAS my
personal property, and when I rode at all
it was on his back. / had rifle carry
ing an explosive ball, and my men were
armed with double barrelled shotguns.
We had a supply OF Chinese bombs and
several hundred sheet-iron cylinders,
which could be charged for SHELLS, In
addition to the above l had case Of
Congreye rockets, the chambers of which
were filed with swan shot, and when we
took our station on the line no party
could have been better prepared.
Fist. on the line came the pioneers,
who cleared the track of trees and brush
Within nine miles of lucknow two of
these were bitten by cobras, and died be-
fore help could reach them. We were
to beat the route ahead Of the pioneers
for at least five miles, and on the very
first day we killed two cobras and ran of
panther From that day for almost
two Yeas there was scarcely a day with
out its adventure
One morning, after we had made our
camp about two miles ahead of the pi-
oneers, started to ride back on my ele-
plant to consult with the foreman of
the gang About the same time he
started to walk to the camp Ten min
utes before ! saw him my beast, whom l
had christened ''Zeb, announced in his
own peculiar way that he scented tiger.
He flung his trunk from side to side and
breathed in an excited way. l had passed
out of thieket to an open spot when l
saw Mr.. Williams about half a mile
away. He was in the clear ground
on the edge of dense thicket
| held up and he soon saw me. He was
waving his hat in silent salutation, when
a magnificent speciman of tigerhood
bounded from the thicket, struck the
ground once, afid then made leap of
about twenty feet and bore Williams to
the earth. Two or three seconds later
he flung the unfortunate man over his
shoulder and started off He did not
make for the thicket, but for a ravine to
the west. urged Zeb after him as fast
as he could go, and hearing the crash of
his footsteps the tiger halted and wheeled
around and stood looking us in the face
l was so near before my beast halted that
I could see that Williams was gripped
by the right shoulder. He lay almost
on his back diagcnally across the tigers
body.
At a distance of not over fifty feet the
elephant halted He saw that the
ground was broken and that he stood no
show of pursuit. had my rifle ready,
and though ] telt almost certain that l
would kill William if fired, raised the
weapon to my face and fired at the white
spot on the tigers breast. 1 believe he
leaped three feet high with his burden,
and he had touched the earth again
when the ball exploded. 1t made an
awful wreck of him, and as l rode for
ward had no hope whatever for the
man. found him covered with blood
and hair and flesh and his coat sleeve
torn off, but had scarcely taken him by
the heels to draw him aside when he
reused up and was soon able to converse.
The tiger had given him a severe bite in
the shoulder. and he had been consider
ably shaken up by the explosion, but in
two weeks he was at the head of his gang
again. The tiger must not only have
been man-eater, but in the full yigor
of life and strength. An old tiger would
have continued 20 run for cover. This
! f11f. !, Il L. Al. ! L r
pluck.
We were beating thicket, in which
was large mass of out-eropping rock.
The route ran right through the thicket,
and within forty feet of the eastern edge
of this outcrop. We knewit to be a good
pace for serpents, and we were not long
in finding them With a shotgun we
killed three large specimens of the cobra
manila and one Of the men hit off two
sandsnakes, which are found in the
thickets as often as in the sands. Others
ran to cover, and then we brought up our
ammunition train, and made ready for
business We had sheet-iron cylinders
from the diameter of a candle to that of a
tea canister We selected size to fit any
hole we found, and they were loaded with
powder and buckshot and fuse in-
serted. The cylinders dropped down
after the snakes, aud the explosion set
tied the fate of anything in that hole. I
think we killed sixty or seventy serpents
On an acre of ground.
The first Chinese bomb l used on the
railway line was at point eighty miles
west of Lucknow. One morning native
came to me from small village on our
right flank and said that panther had
carried off his o-year-old child the
evening before. Just after sunset, while
the family were sitting about the door OF
the hut, the child, which was just begin
ming to walk, toddled off around the
corner Of the hut, and was seized by a