The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-03-01
TT WAS DISAGREEABLE,
A BRITISH ARMY OFFICER HELD AT
BAY BY THREE TIGERS.

The Striped Beasts Play An Arou.d
Him-Armed, but Too Nervous to Hit
One Of tho Man Eaters-The Death
Cry of His Horse Attracts His Friends.
"Ten you the most exciting adventure of
my life" said Lieut.. Charles F. Stewart
formerly of her majesty's army in the In
ola service, but now resident of Birming-
ham, Ala. well, met with quite num-
Der Of more or less thrilling adventures
hunting lions and tigers in the jnngles,
but only once did lose all hope. shall
never forget that hunt; in fact I shudder
every time l think Of it, Two ether Of
ficers, English visitors in India, and my
self went into the interior for tiger hunt.
We camped near a large jungle, where
tigers were reported by the natives to be
plentiful. We had three servants with Us,
and in addition employed dozen natives,
several of whom had much experience in
tiger hunting.
1.-THE first day in the jungle we killed a
young tiger, and then we hunted four days
without catching sight of another We
would spend the day beating through the
jungle and return to our camp at night.
There was plenty Of smaller game, but we
were out for tiger or nothing. The sixth
day out we went into portion of the jun
gle where it was not SO dense, and we
could make our way on horseback very
well We kept pretty well together until
noon, but found no game. At noon we
stopped to eat cold lunch, and, as it was
extremely hot, the others of the party de-
cided to rest for two hours before they pro-
ceeded.
IN A BAD PREDICAMENr.
while the Others were resting mounted
my horse and rode alone toward small
stream short distance to the right Of our
camp. Along the bank the Jungle was so
dense that my horse could not get through.
turned to go back to camp, but had ad
vanced only few steps when my horse
stopped with loud snort of terror. l
looked ahead, and there, not more than 100
feet away, were three Of the largest tigers
l ever saw. They were standing still, and
seemed undecided whether to attack us or
to run away. My horse was trembling
with fright and could not move him for
ward or backward. / raised my gun to
shoot, then lowered it again, for realized
that if I killed or crippled one of the beasts
the others would be upon me before could
fire again.
1.-THE tigers seemed still undecided what
to do, and / shouted at them as hard as
could, thinking possibly L might brighten
them away. AT the sound of my voice the
beasts lashed their tails and began to play
about like huge cats, but all the time they
were advancing toward me-. For few
/ was thinking very fast. trying to
decide on some plan of action. I thought
of urging my horse forward and riding
right past them as rapidly as possible l
buried my spurs in my horses sides, but
he would not move. Every moment the
fHghtful looking beasts were coming near
er and nearer.
Now they were creeping and gliding
through the tall grass, Just as cat creeps
upon bird. l thought of another plan,
and lost no time in putting it into effect
Bending forward | removed my feet from
the stirrups, raised myself out of the
saddle and slipped along the back of the
horse until dropped to the ground. The
horse was now between me and the tigers,
and if he would only stand still until they
sprang upon him l might be able to escape
unnoticed during the struggle 1 knew
would follow. My horse seemed paralyzed
with fear, and l began slowly backing
sway.
CHASED BY THE BEASTS
81 had not gone ten feet when saw three
great tawny bodies rise in the air and come
down on the back and neck of my poor
horse. When the horse felt the sharp teeth
and claws tearing into his flesh he gave
one long, 2iteous, almost human cry and
then began to struggle for his life Taking
Il Of ctr 10 T
away as fast as possible. / saw my horse
90 down with the tigers tearing at his
throat and sides, and knew the struggle
would soon be over. For moment felt
was safe. and turning started on run
toward camp. After running few steps
looked back, and, to my horror, saw one
If the tigers coming bounding after me.
His hideous jaws were covered with blood
and his eyes cleaned like balls of fire.
Il turned and raised my rife, but before
could pull the trigger saw the other two
tigers leave the dead horse and come
toward me. Then / lost hope.
Great drops of perspiration rolled down my
lace, and my knees were so weak l could
scarcely stand. / determined to risk shot
at the first tiger anyway, and reduce the
fearful odds had to contend against. ]
tired, but my nerves were too weak, and /
missed AT the sound of the shot all three
Of the beasts stopped for a moment, then
they began creeping forward for spring
Il said prayer Of some kind and gave
myself up for lost. 1t seemed to me I
stood there an age watching those angry
beasts creeping nearer and nearer Ny
nerves were about To give way entirely I'M
ier the terrible strain when l heard a
noise behind me. A moment later a deaf
sning volley of rife shots, and then sank
20 the ground in faint. The cry of my
horse had been heard at the camp, and
half dozen of the native hunters were
sent out TO see if was in trouble. They |
came up just in time and the we'll aimed |
shots from their heavy rifles killed all !
hree of the beasts."-Elmira Telegram.