Asheville daily citizen., 1892-07-11
AT TIE MERCY OF A TIGER
a MAN WHO SPENT - rE!.IE L
WITH \ SAVAGE ISs:ASG
Failing NV accident Into IA lie
infant I'it where u Royal Ben
xaI TiHcr Was HOW
the Hours Passed SLOWLY Hy.
Copyright, lso.. by Charles I3. Lewis


we were told that we had at last struck
the tigers paradise. The people Of the
village, numbering about coo souls had
heard that we were headed that way and
that we would pay ten pounds for full
grown captive tiger, and the men had dug
several pits and set two or three traps.
Three days before our arrival they caught
tiger in one of the traps, but had bad
luck with him.
A native tiger trap IS large cage con
structrd of bamboo, and about four feet
wide 10y ten feet long. At one end Is II
door which slides up and down In grooves,
The bait is placed at the opposite end, and
when seized u trigger is pulled and the
door falls. The tiger was caught some
time during the night. Next morning
when they went out to carry the cage to
the village, the beast became furious at
sight of them and finally broke out Of the
cage and killed one man and badly wound
ed another before making off. They had
inspected the tiger at short range, and all
had observed that piece had been bitten
out of his left ear. The wound had long
ago healed up, but it was good mark to
identify him In case he was ever seen
again.
We had come into the province Of Ben
gal to capture as many tigers as possible,
as good animals were scarce among show
men, and the Hamburg house had orders
on its books for dozen or more. 1t Is
popu1arly believed that the Bengal tiger
Is larger and ferccr and more untamable
than the tiger Of any other district.
While this is by no means the case, a
geological garden or Snowman will pay
;, higher price for one of them and advertise
him more extensively.
Otir first care was to construct several
: small, stout cages In which to transport
2 our captivcs, in case we had the good luck
? to make any, and the next to lay ont the
D ground. There were noman eaters haunt
} ing the ncighborhoOd, and no tiger had
been seen about the village Hunting
parties had routed them out In the raviuc
and thickets to the west, and now and
then bullock had been killed by them on
3 the edge of the cleared land. After II sur
vcy of the country we dug several pits and
. placed several traps, and then bad nothing
. to do but wait, Each pit and trap was
s visited twice day by men detailed for the
purpose. They went IN the morning to see
If we had caught anything, and again at
midaftcrnoon to rebait and reset In case II
. hycna or jackal had been made captive.
} These animals were source of great an.
4 noyancc to us by sneaking into the traps
5 and falling into the ptls meant for larger
game.
1t was ten days before we made II strike
y hut the cnptivc was well worth waiting for
. He had just attained his prime and was Il
- real royal beauty. Some men when i'll luck
l. H., Il.
tigers. Other men and other tigers tax,
matters more phioiophcally. ThisfcIloH
was sitting down when We first caught
sight of him, and it was only when VI
were within thirty feet of his cage that Ii,
rose and salutrd us with Il kingIy growl
Then he lay down again, seeming to real
ize that his case was helpless and yet tic
tcrmincd to preserve his dignity, and w
, had no trouble whatever In removing hin
% to one OF the transportation cages. He wa
. 50 quiet and docilc that some of the native
declared he must have been II captive be
D fore That was not possible however. III
D had Just eaten n hearty breakfast, frl
r good naturcd toward all the world an,
~ was Intelligent enough to realize that III
/, was helpless
:. On the afternoon Of the third day aftc
is trapping our tiger, who is today an inmat
of She Royal 200 of London, word wa
- brought in by native hunter that Il larg
;5 herd of elephants was in the forest abou
n six miles away, and that one big tuskc
\ was lame and could easily be captured b.
| Y the white men. Williams took ten native
II and circled to the northwest, while tool
Y the same number and circlcd to the south
Y west, calculating to get to the west Of tn
{ Il herd before we effected u junction an
N then drive it toward n village. 1t took II
~ three hours TO reach our position, and
was Il rare sight we saw when we Crcl
down on the herd. They had just stoppc
feeding and We're collected in a glade {
NO about an acre in extent There were twci
W ty-slx of them, including three babies nc
yet wruncd.
g, The tuskcr mentioned was n noble hi
fellow, but had got the worst Of II fight
- which he had been severely hurt In I'll
right shoulder He could hardly put thu
is forcfoot to the ground, and was standin
by himself aud sulking when we caugl
sight of him. crcpt around to the sout
to yet fair shot ut him, while Willial
was stalking an old fellow with one tus
. broken off about half way up, and "
\" SnOuu nave pOu DDlH VI lltlll ullu LOT II
accident. One Of the natives, moving q
hands and knees through the brush, WI
struck in the face by "A poisonous scrpcr
and rose up and cried out at the top of Ii
voice. At his first scream the elcphan
went off AT furious pace, and we kne
they would not stop againunder five mile
Tho native had been struck by II jung
viper. reached him within five minute
-. and he was then rolling ON the grour
III, with his face so swollen that he could |
longer see out Of his eyes. In n quarter
an hour he was dead. His death mac
very little impression on his companion
ave | felt annoyed Mt their seeming indiffc
cnce and said so to my head man, and
'St' replied
not "Why, sahb, ho is dead, and that en-,
It. My grandfather was eaten by tigc
10 my father killed by buffalo and my on
inc. brother died as he has just died, from
snake bite. My turn may come any da
md Why should weep or lamcnt"
Four of the natives We're ordered to nal
a litter and convey the body to the villal
for burial, and we divided into two parti
again and set out after the herd He
- - and there we found well beaten paths
~ mako travelling more easy, but at 9th
IM times we could scarcely force Il passa
aN through the thckcts. | was leading t
way and supposed my men were followin
o,. The afternoon was wearing away, III
OF whenever l struck favorable ground | /
81. creased my pace to a run. | finally hea
and the elephants ahead of me, and was ere,
ing up when suddenly realized that W
alone in the forest. waited for perha
ated ten minutes, and then followed slowly
. after the elephants who were feeding
they moved along expected to be ov,
ERY l"ast least alarmed In twas gradually getting
, 10 the heels of the herd when somethi
}. C. occurred to alarm the beasts again, Il
aAA away they went ut tremendous gait, n
~ knrw shonl see nothinr moro Of thi