The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-08-17
THE TANNING OF A TIGER.
how = WILD BEAST WAS MES
MERIZED IN INDIA.

Music and an Unfaltering Gaz7-AA
Fakirs Not Impostors.
From the Neac York Ledger.
It was after dinner at the collector's-les
Us call him the collector Of Metspeiam,
though that is not the name Of his station
and the talk had dr.fted on 70 a subject
which has many attractions for the more
modern Anglo-Indian; that is to say, the
subject OF the fakirs Of India.
81 was travelling delsh,n the collector
began, ''in one Of the central provinces,
and after reaching the bungalow one even
ing was smoking cheroot on the veranda
after supper, when the head man Of the
nearest village appeared and begged per
mission to speak with the sahib. Il ap-
pea ed from his statement that the village
was in a great commotion over the
declared intention of a native hunter Of
much local renown 10 go in, quest of the
cubs of a tigress that had recently
killed his little girl. The hunter said be
would make the beast unde stand herself
COW il felt TO be bereaved Of her young, AMI
he was stubborn about the plan. Now the
villagers at once perceived that II the tigress.
lost her cubs she would be furious, and that
the whole community would be endangered
by her anger. They had, therefore, begget
and implored the hunter TO abandon his
purpose, but without moving him, and now,
as last resource, they had sent their head
man to ask the sahib if be would not use his
influence tn prevent the threatened terrible
inprudence, OF course | consented, but
when they went 70 seek the hunter to send
him to me the fellow could not be found The
conclusion come TO was that he had got
wind Of the ne " movement of his neighbors,
and had ovsrreached them by slipping
quietly into the jungle. Nothing now could
be done about the matter, and so the viii
layers prepared for the night with more
than usual trepidation.
1.-THE night was rather cool, and / slept
well until my cousumah woke me, when
the sun was up, with a dreadful and suffi-
GENTLY exciting story. 1t appeared that
the obstinate hunter must have carried out
his project. and also have got safely away
with the tiger cubs-the mother, no doubt,
having been out hunting during the night,
and the little ones thus left unprotected.
How the villagers knew what had happened
was simple enough. 1t was broad day, aud
every one was about his regular voca-
ton, when a tremendous roar was
heard and large tigress was seen advanc-
ing swiftly and boldly to the village Now,
of course, you know that a man eating tiger
scarcely ever attacks in the daytime That
is for the great carnivora the period of rest
and retreat, and they go hunting oaly when
night has fallen. The approach of the
tigress,. therefore, 50 boldly argued an
cause, and there was but one IS
sible, namely, the loss of her cubs. The
creature was plainly furious and her
were so swift that though
the people instantly sought cover on
seeing her-some climbing the roofs of
houses and others getting into the trees
the fierce beast struck down two, an old
man and a child, before the street was
emptied. Both her victims were dead, the
cousumah said, and she was now literally in
possession Of the village, pacing up and
down the street, shifting at the closed doors
and from time to time eying the low roofs,
as though she had more than half mind to
try a spring upon one Of them.
"Of course, the sahib was implored to
relieve the beleaguered village They would
not ask me to kill the tigress, however. Such
a request would have been extremely i'm
proper and sacrilegious. But they knew
very well that the only way to help them
was to kill the brute, and they did not doubt
that should take that view of the situation.
/ need not hesitate TO say that while l saw
my duty clearly, was not enamored Of it.
To hunt an enraged and desperate tigress Is
no holiday busidess. and, single handed,
it must be considered a somewhat
foolhardy undertaking. happened
to have an express rife with me,
however, and had great confidence 10 it /;
and l thought, too, that could depend
upon at least two of my fellows, who had
hunted large game with me before. My
preparations were soon made, and we set
of for the village. AS we cautiously ap-
preached the line Of houses looking for the
tigress, sudden clamor Of voices-a sort
of Mortified, helpless wail-arose from the
other end of the village, indicating a fresh
disaster. What it was a few steps dis
closed. There had been a marriage that
morning, and the wedding pro-
cession must have been away
when the tigress approached, while
evidently, in the terror and confusion, no
body thought Of warning it; 80 it had gone
Its way leisurely, and was returning in the
same fashion when the tigress sprang into
the middle of the parade, and before any
one could think, seized the bride by one
arm, threw the faintlng form over her
back with toss of her head, sprang twenty
feet away again, turned, growing and fac
ing the horror-stricken crowd, and lay
stretched out there, one heavy paw upon
the back of the girl, who was face down
ward, motionless, but whether dead or alive
IL was impossible to ascertain.
1.-THE position was a very difficult one.
To rescue the bride 1t was absolutely neces-
sary that the beast should be killed stone
dead with a SINGLE shot, and there are not
many such shots 10 be had at tiger, whose
tenacity of life is notorious. If only
wounded she would begin by tearing her
prey to pieces, and would thon, to a GER
tatnty, charge on the villagers like thun-
derbolt, and perhaps kill a half dozen of
them before it would be possible to dispatch
her. confess l was perplexed, and
the more so since l was debarred from
from trying very promising shot because
the girl lay right in line with it, | was
trying to determine how best to circumvent
the ferocious brute. who lay lashing her
long tail, her ears fattened back aud all
the fierceness and cruelty Of her nature
shining in her flaming eyes, when, to my
/ saw a man quietly emerging
from the crowd and walking straight to
ward the beast A second glance showed
me that he was fakir. He was naked but
for waist cloth and turban, and he held in
his right hand slim, seven-jointed bamboo
cane or wand, very short and about
the dimensions of a conductors
baton. He went forward so composedly
and 30 sudden silence fell upon
the crowd that forgot all my own plans
and waited TO see what would happen. The
fakir was tall man, whose body and limbs
were SO lean and emaciated as TO make it
evident that he had reduced the problem of
nourishment to its lowest terms. His swarthy
face was still and impassive as mask, only
In his large, dark eyes there dwelt an ami