The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1893-08-26
RULERS OF THE JUNGLE.
ANIMALS THAT SELL THEIR
] LIVES AT HIGH PRICES,
Cave Bears of Ceylon Invariably Attack
When Roused-An Adventure with
Bufaloes on the Zambesl-The Ter
: %ribie Bengal Tiger

A Buhaloes on the Zambesi-The Ter
q ribie Bengal Tiger
Il sss5-s. e.. -.- ....- ..- ,ss
4 Many species of carnivora cleai ir1y
j prefer revenge to flight. In the in
4 terror of Ceylon there are mount ain
4 forests where the cave bear (ursus
4 labiatus) finds a safe retreat from the
a pursuit Of the native hunters, but, if
! wounded, that small relative of our
i grizzly will invariably turn upon his
4 aggressors, and decline to be satisfied
p with the triumph of routing them at
the first charge. With leaps that
b would do credit to a kangaroo, he
hunts the would-be hunters, and is
i bush where reserve force of native
q .sportsmen discharge their spears and
4 then scatter in wild flight, we'll aware
! that the bear would make an example
I OF, the first PROSTATE foe. He would
4 tear off his face like mask, fay his
j ribs and chew his hands to pieces.
i + Cingalese travellers who have to
q cross the haunts of the cave bear
d provide themselves with written
4 charms, setting forth the meritorious
j purpose of their journey and the
/ harmlessness of their personal dis
opposition, / and Sir Emerson Tennent
i speaks of messenger who took the
Il precaution to make Buddhist priest
+ sign document of that sort. Pru-
u dence, moreover, makes it advisable
4 to cross the perilous thickets in
4 silence, for an untimely whoop may
1 provoke the bear to the degree of
q haying the trespassor, with brutal
4 Indifference to the Endorsements of
q his certificates.
81 Mental excitement will operate like
1 an anasthetic, and wounded soldiers
have often attested the curious fact
Il that saber cuts and. pistol bullets
& may not CAy be disregarded, but
!: actually remain unfelt, in the heart
Il Of a handto-hand combat, and an
8 nounce themselves only by their in
.4I cidental effects-the stiffening of a
4 wounded arm or the faintness follow
4 ing great loss of blood. On a
u similar theory we may account for
81 the often-repeated assertion that
s grizzly bears can not be hurt, a bull
q let failing to penetrate his brain or
s the heart 81. Thes truth seems to- atbe
!, that. the effects Of wounds, eventual
I sIaEzly. fatal, may be temporarily neutral
lied by the rage Of the Ylndffc5tifss ~
| brute.
His is that frenzy of vindictiveness
strictly limited to carniyorous ami
mails. Captain Charles Baldwin, in
the chronicle of his South African
travels, describes trip to the head
waters of the Zambesi river, where
the road led through a park-like for
est; evergreen leaf-trees scattered in
groves over grassy plateau. Herds
OF wild buffaloes grazed along the
bank of ravine, and the Kaffir
guides cast shy glances in that direc-
tion, but had almost passed the last
dangerous points when one of the
Boer teamsters discharged his rifle
at fat yearling. In a moment the
old bulls faced about, snorting and
stamping, a second after they made a
headlong charge. They had caught
sight of the caravan. A volley at
sixty yards, another at close range,
| thinned the ranks of the infuriated
beasts, but they kept right on, and
the stampede of the frightened Kaf-
; frs resembled the flight Of mob
charged by heavy cavalry.
There were some fifteen good
marksmen in the party, and most of
them managed to dodge behind trees $
in time to receive the troop with a
murderous fusillade, but the tramp
| 1inr hnpsoc oi
after flying Kaffirs continued till the
last bull lay rolling in his blood, for
those who had only been stunned
would struggle to their legs again
and rout the natives who approached
to dispatch them with their long
lances One of the captains com
panions declared that he had never
had so much fun in his life, but after
: figuring up the expense of the ad-
venture the majority agreed with the
guide that it would have been by far
the wisest plan to let the herd Craze
in peace.
In Southern Hindostan, where
damage suits are rare, the loss of
human life is often not thought
! worth mentioning, but the price of
an elephant varies from $500 to $500,
and good saddle horses are so rare
that a tiger hunt now and then
ceases to be a one-sided kind of
sport. At circle-hunt in the
jungles of Ramgeer, in the province
of Hyderbad, the result of one tiger
Ikilled, one cub killed and one cap
tured, was Offset by three dead and
I four wounded coolies, two dead
horses and two mangled elephants,
! besides the loss of lot of baggage
and camping outfit carried by astam-
peded elephant in the rear ranks Of
4 the expedition, and the hunters had, 4
after all, to retreat without accom-
! plishing their object of killing an in
Isveterate man-eater. ..%<: g
I AS a rule, however, dogs pay the
4 main share Of the penalties incident
/ to the failure Of such enterprises.
1 Carnivor beasts hate man's truest
i friend, not only as a formidable ag-