The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1891-08-22
FER0CIOUS ANIMALS.
CREATURES THAT THIRST FoR
THE BLOOD OF MAN.
rhe Great Hippopotamus OF tho Nile
The Man Eating Tirer-The
shiny Crocodile and tho
Terrible shark.


tha. are menace 70 human life says
the San Francisco Chronicle. yet in
various parts OF the world there are
found animals that seem TO regard men
as their natural prey. This is nowhere
better illustrated than on the Upper
Nile.
The White Nile Is famous for it's
man-killing hippopo;ami On one oc-
casion some villagers were waiting the
return OF their Sheik. who had been
on visit OF ceremony across the river
when 10 their horror a large hippo
potamus appeared, and. rushing upon
the boat seized il and the Sheik.
crushing Doth. On another occasion
man entered the water 20 battle.
when hippopotamus. which had been
in concealment near by, rushed at
him. biting him in two IA shark
might have done The action OF the
animal Is simply wild rage. which
causes them TO attack anything with
out regard 20 the size. A well-known
Official reported that all his boats had
been damaged by these animals during
three years experience on the Nile
The crocodiles OF the Nile country
and the Ganges are essentially man
eaters, attacking human beings when
ever the occasion offers. aud this Ia
more or less true OF those animals
wherever found. The gavial OF the
Ganges is singular creature. often
attaining "a length OF twenty feet. but
is not the enemy OF man rs Is general
| liz supposed. The crocodile OF the Nile
attains huge proportions. and. like the
man-eating shark. is remarkable for
its bulk. instances being known where
human being has been devoured al
most whole
Such "a case was recorded by Mr..
| Bennett in his work on Ccylon. This
crocodile was captured and found to
measure Ia feet about the size OF the
largest alligators found in Florida. In
! Ceylon those reptiles attain a length
OF 22 feet and are formidable Great
ures. but even larger specimens have
been found In the Nile.
The mau-eater most dreaded is the
/ tiger. many OF these animals develop
! ing taste for human prey and rely
ing entirely upon IL Such a tiger has
been known TO kill fifty or sixty ma
/ tiyes before IL was destroyed. One
man. eater showed remarkable skill in
avoiding an enemy. Its method was
to approach some village. seize AN un-
protected man or woman and dart into
the bush before IL could be seen by
others, only the fact that tho victim
was missed telling the story until the
evidences were found long after. The
tiger would then leave this locality and
go to some village perhaps ten miles
distant; thus IL kept a large area in n
state OF terror and avoided the hunters
who were continually on the watch for
II. Finally an organized hunt started
out under the leadership OF a we'll
known sportsman and hunter, and the
man-eater was Brought low.
India probably leads in the unenvi-
able possession OF man killers and
man eaters every year hardly less
than 2. 800 human beings being killed
by wild animals. In the year 1876
tigers killed nearly 1000 persons. In
many instances devouring them; ele.
plants killed 6l; 10 the leopard was
laid lS7 persons eaten; bears killed 81,
]
number OF animals killed in this same
year was: Tigers 2,423, leopards
ne 557, wolves y. 407.
al all the animals which occasional
l., o,,a.L ~ the shark. perhaps. In
sni.as The craa,s;t horror. and. hap
pily while sbark sAtories are common.
shark TRAGEDIES are are Tho car
charodon carcharias, tho Aoa' '''an-o''.eI
or white shark. is only 'oo"S'on"''y
seen. In the seven years spens ~ a
locality where sharks were very com
mon ! never knew OF fatality.
Nothing was thought OF bathing where
sharks from ten 20 thirteen feet long had
/ been seen a short time before. have
caught dozens OF sharks simply for the
! sport from ten-foot hammcr-hcad OF
the Pacific 10 the enormous so-called
man-eater OF the Gulf Of Mexico. that
/ ranges from ten 10 fourteen feet and
i very bulky. but never saw one
show the least ugliness except in
case where shark seized the keel of
/ the boat In It's jaws and even this may
have been an accident Yot sharks
are In some localities 10 be- avoided
and the dog fish OF our Northern
waters are the b.ooihounds OF the sea
in their ferocity.
| was once chased from the water
, hy small shark 4 or . feet long.
was wading along the coral reef In
water knee deep. when the little fell
low charged mo with rush. and be-
ing empty handed ] retreated In some
confusion. This was. / believe. sim
ply play on the part OF the shark.
In Southern Florida heard OF but
one fatality in which tiger shark
capped from the water and pulled n