The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1890-05-22
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9ndfrspta gntelliget1fsr.
4 Thrilling Adventure.
Sc The following thrilling experience is
related by gentleman who WAS sent to
India BY an animal house at Amsterdam
to procure q den of poisonous snakes for
an American circus. 1t was, not much of
feat to secure the serpents wanted, and
in q fortnight the party was ready to pull
up stakes. sIs was on the last night of
the hunters stay in, the snake regions,
! however, that the incident occurred
which nearly cost him his life. he
I says:
s.The, hut I occupied had been used as
a: storehouse. On each side Of the single
doorway was stout fence, made ofpoles,
and running out about twenty FIVE feet,
!. thus making lane or passage about three
feetsWide. When, the house was filled
with grain sentinel watched at the
mouth Of this lane. Only one person
could 90 or come alta time, and each was
thus under supervision. They had slung
3 "a hammock for me, so that I faced the
!; door and looked down this lane when
lying on my right.side. Each night
{ fire was built just at the mouth of the
s LINE, and there were 30 many other fires
I scattered about that We felt safe from
tigers Cor serpents.. On this night, l
turned in at about ten o'clock. HALF an
hour later ie began to rain heavily, and
inta few minutes all the fires went out.
The rain continued until after midnight
and then it cleared>up and the moon rose.
II had slept over an hour, and awoke just
a5.the light Of the moon came over the
iungle. It shone we'll up the lane. and
8the. first thing my eyes rested on was a
large cobra making it's way toward me.
I'VE had seen none Of them in our two
weeks stay, but knew the species the
1 instant L caught its motion. My two
guns:werei in the hut. To spring out Of
the hammock and seize one Of them and
fire 1.-THE serpent was the work of ten
seconds. That was my programme, but
.Sas, Imade for the first movement I found
6 & nTself fast. I had not removed my
trousers and the buckle had worked
itself down among the fibers and become
I fast..
s.s3s.sI had only time for the one effort.
alTo.get near I. must dump myself out on
nv Knees, and the serpent was too near
for that. The cobra might flee in
alright, but he,was more likely to spring
upon sme. And suppose there were q
zzEpair of; them, and that the other had
3 already entered the hut!, In ten seconds
after this thought came to me I was in
i cold sweat and 30 weak that I could not
have stood on my feet. The slight move.
ment T had raade alarmed the cobra, and
. he coiled himself and waited full two min
s5utes before coming on again: 1 ought
{ to move and also saise my voice, but for
ss$the,life ofmeI could neither raiseia fin
eyger, nor utter, q sound.
serpent might have been ten
minutes crawling the fifteen feet which
brought him; to the hut. AS soon as he
was over the threshold he was in the
& darkness, and I could no longer see him.
sTI heard him crawling aoout over the
4 dried grass on the floor, however, and
8 knew that it was only question of min
! sSutes when he would seek closer ac.
{ zSouaintance with me. The cobra never
attacks unless cornered !; it never strikes
as sleeper. My hammock was slung
about three feet. from the ground. After
q few:minutes heard the snake crawl
ling towards me, and prepared for the
worst.
s5sss. s.tWh hen + turned in it was 7ery close
and oppressive. Ishad therefore thrown
5.sths blankets ont of the hammock. The
2cool rain had chilled the snake, and he
4 En- as looking for warmth. The blankets
were on the ground, and this fact pre-
vented him from coming to the ham,
& mock. I could not see him, but I could
Ssshear and scent him as he twined about
and finally culrled down. When he had
become quiet II felt that / had q chance
B & for my life. I would wait until he was
asleep; and then make a.. sudden spring
and rush. If I waited until daylight
& aud aroused The natives, the cobra would
certainly bite me. ;,s. 80
80 was cooler now, and waited from
twenty to twenty-five minutes before
]: smioviog. IT was Just planning to dump
myself out of the hammock when the
moonlight revealed . new and unex.
y pected danger. Standing at the mouth
ofthe lane, and looking in straight upon
8 me, was tiger. That he was an old
tiger, and man. eater, one could see
Shy his lordly air.. Instead of coming in
from the Jungle, he had come across the
open and cultivated land, and my hut
5gsawas the first in mis- patch, I did not
believe he would enter the hut. The
lane would look lika trap to him, and
3 he would fight shy. After looking at
& & me- for perhaps two minutes the tiger
moved ont ofsaight, and presently
heard him stealing around the hue to
look for an opening. There was no
other, and lie returned and surveyed me
/; again. While my eyes we're wide open,
sI did not move q finger, and the animal,
s no doubt, believed me asleep. He prob.
ably. saw the blankets on the ground
but I don't think he suspected the pres
ence Of the serpent.
When the tiger finally entered the
{ opening, and began to approach me, |
Z gave myself up for lost. With this
feeling came that OF coolness, and I vas
never more clear headed in my life.
Fora moment forgot the snake, but
presently, as the tiger was within ten
feet of tho doorway, heard the serpent
Z utter low hiss aud move about. The
& tiger had eyes and ears only for me. He
sulked over the ground exactly as you
have seen 8 cat, making mo more noise
than q mouse. When he reached the
doorway and stood with his fore paws on
4 Che threshold my heart stopped beating.
3 His next move would be spring.
sa1He would find me helpless. There
was an interval of perhaps thirty seconds.
My sight went away from me; / was
half dead with terror. family remem.
berh hearing hiss and snarl, and all at
sonce Z rose. The cobra and the tiger
SsWere rolling over and over in the lane,
and raising such row that the whole
village was aroused in moment. [