Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-07-16
AT A TIGERS MERCY.
STORY OF A MAN WHO SPENT THE
NIGHT WITH A SAVAGE BEAST.

Falling by Accident Into an Elephant
Pit Where Royal Bengal Tiger Was
Trapped and the Story of How the
Hours Passed Slowly BY.
Copyright, 1892. by Charles B. Lewis.l
When we of the menagerie expedition
reached Myanee, on the edge Of the great
forest of Chittagong. province of Bengal,
we were told that we had at last struck
the tigers paradise. The people of the
village numbering about 600 souls, had
heard that we were headed that way and
that we would pay ten pounds for a full
grown captive tiger and the men had dug
several pits and set two or three traps.
Three days before our arrival they caught
a tiger in one of the traps, but had bad
luck with him.
A native tiger trap is a large cage con-
Dtructed of bamboo and about four feet
wide by ten feet long. AT one end is a
door which slides up and down in grooves.
The bait is placed at the opposite end, and
when seized a 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
ont 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,
rs good animals were scarce among show
men, and the Hamburg house had orders
on its books for dozen or more. It Is
popularity believed that the Bengal tiger
is larger and fiercer and more untamable
than the tiger OF any other district.
While this is by no means the case,
geological garden or a Snowman will pay
higher price for one of them and advertise
him more extensively.
Our first care was TO construct several
small stout cages in which to transport
our captives, in case we had the good luck
to make any, and the next 10 lay out the
ground. There were no man eaters haunt
ing the neighborhood, and no tiger had
been seen about the village. Hunting
parties had routed them out in the ravine
and thickets to the west and now and
then bullock had been killed by them on
the edge of the cleared land. After a sur
vey of the country we dug several pits and
placed several traps, and then had nothing
to do but wait. Each pit and trap
visited twice day by men detailed for the
purpose. They went in the morning to see
II we ndu Cduknt dnEUnlUS ana dSaln NJ
midafternoon to rebait and reset in case a
hyena or jackal had been made captive
These animals We're a source of great an
noyance to us by sneaking into the traps
and falling into the pits meant for larger
game.
1t was ten days before we made strike,
but the captive was well worth waiting for.
He had just attained his prime and was a
real royal beauty. Some men when i'll luck
A. f.1l Il =
tigers. Other men and other tigers take
matters more philosophically. This fellow
was sitting down when we first caught
sight of him, and it was only when we
were within thirty feet of his cage that he
rose and saluted us with a kingly growl.
Then he lay down again, seeming to real
ize that his case was helpless and yet de-
termined to preserve his dignity, and we
had no trouble whatever in removing him
to one of the transportation cages. He was
so quiet and docile that some of the natives
declared he must have been a captive be-
fore. That was not possible, however He
had just eaten n hearty breakfast, felt
good natured toward all the world and
was intelligent enough to realize that he
was helpless.
On the afternoon of the third day after
trapping our tiger, who is today an inmate
of she Royal zoo of London, word was
brought in by "A native hunter that large
herd of elephants was in the forest about
six miles away, and that one big tusker
was lame and could easily be captured by
the white men. Williams took ten natives
and circled to the northwest while l took
the same number and circled to the south
west, calculating to get to the west of the
herd before we effected junction and
then drive it toward village. 1t took
three hours to reach our position, and it
was rare sight we saw when we crept
down on the herd. They had just stopped
feeding and were collected in glade of
about an acre in extent. There were TWEEN
ty-six of them, including three babies not
yet weaned.
The tusker mentioned was noble big
fellow but had got the worst of a fight in
which he had been severely hurt in the
right shoulder. He could hardly put that
forefoot to the ground, and was standing
by himself and sulking when we caught
sight of him. 1 crept around to the south
to get q fair shot at him, while William
was stalking an old fellow with one tusk
broken off about half way up, and we
should have got both of them but for an
accident. One of the natives, moving on
hands and knees through the brush, was
struck in the face by a poisonous serpent
and rose up and cried out at the top of his
voice. At his first scream the elephants