Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-02-02

warned not 10 stray INTO the jungle
without my rifle, but, having become
accustomed TO The quiet of civilized
life, l utterly failed 10 appreciate the
presence Of danga, and the word tiger
reminded me Of nothing but Barnum's
menagerie; in fact, | had a somewhat
hay idea Jhat tigers confined them
selves to the mainland of Asia
| One afternoon, the heat having be
come very oppressive, l stuck Il self
! cooking revolver, such as is used in the
Dutch navy, in my belt, and suolled un-
| concernedly into the cool jungle, my
| pipe between my teeth. For want OF a
! better path | followed a kind of rough
road evidently broken through by the
! bulk and brute force OF a herd of ele-
! plants, perhaps on their return from
one OF those marauding expeditions into
our plantations which we dreaded so
much. l wandered musingly along, oc-
caSiOnally stopping to observe the Won
derful blossoms of the narka, or the Ii
diculOus antics Of the numerous species
of monkeys that filed the branches of
the cocoa trees, until the path of the
elephants led me to the banks of Il
marshy stream overhung with rich,
| tropical vegetation.
/ Suddenly it seemed as if all the mon
keys in the forest We're about to migrate.
Hundreds of them scampered by me,
through the branches overhead and the
jungle itself, giving vent to sharp cries
which soon proved to be those OF terror
/ In a minute the forest was still as the
grave; not a monkey chartered, not a
bird tWittered. An uncanny feeling
! took possession Of me; the unconscious
recognition of the presence Of danger.
l rose neryously and ran lightly across
a long log onto a kind of island and
there awaited developments.
In a moment / meard a "pat-pat'
coming through the jungle. then a sud-
den silence, followed a second later by
a terrible roar that sent my heart up
into my very mouth and froze my blood
in my veins. The nearness of the fear
full beast, for it was a Javan tiger of
the largest kind, and the suddenneSs of
it's appearance nearly caused me to lose
my hold and fall into the sluggish
stream; but mastering my terror / plac-
ed a tree between myself and the tiger,
which l could see Sinking toward me-
I coked my poor little fve-shooter and
awaited the attack. / remember being
perfectly cool, and rejecting that my
only chance for life was to reach the
brain through the eye-sOcket, but, al
though of a sanguine temperament,
really had but small hope of escaping
the terrible embrace of the monster.
Upon seeing me, he made a tremend-
Gus bound, which brought him within a
few yards of the further bank of the
stream. and not ten yards distant from
me. With a rashness born of alarm, I
took the best aim my trembling hand
would allow, and pulled the trigger.
A surprised howl answered the report,
and a little stream of blood trickIed
from a wound in the brutes nose,
which, however, served but to render
him the more ferocious For an instant
he stood there flashing his sides with his
magnificent tail, and shaking the forest
with his deafening roar. Then he
crouched to spring, leap that would,
without any doubt, have settled the
future Of your friend, bred Warbeck.
when, from an unseen bough above the
tigers head. a squirming mass FELL like
an animated log, directly upon the king
of the forest. It was an East Indian
python, the largest serpent in the world.
The combat that followed beggared
all description. Before the astonished
and Infatuated tiger could defend him.
self a monstiOus coil, strong as a steel
wire cable, was cast about his neck,
while n second encircled his striped
body. Then came the terrible struggle,
accompanied by angry roars Baffied
in his attempts to turn his head and bite
his foe, the tiger rolled upon the ground,
and put forth his whole terrible strength
to rid himself of the sitting embrace
At last he succeeded in planting one
huge claw upon the reptiles body, which
was torn frightfully, and for a moment
the python seemed to slacken it's hold,
but in a moment the terrific struggle
began anew.
python, whose tail wa wrapped round a
stout branch above, raised the tiger
bodily from the ground and swayed
with him in uidair! The reptile had,
however, miscalculated the weight of
it's antagonist, and, after a succession
Of phrensied efforts to pin the tiger to
/ the tree, it's grasp seemed to give way,
and with a hideous roar from the tiger,
the squirming, writing mass, tiger and
python, fell with a mighty splash into
the water at my very feet.
This unexpected turn in the battle
brought me to my senses, and converted
me from a spell-bound spectator into
a fugitive for my life. With a cry Of
terror and superhuman bound I leap
ed across the stream and fed toward
home. The next morning / returned to
the spot, accompanied by our whole
force Of hunters The traces Of the
fearful combat were plainly to be seen,
and following the trail across the very
spot whence had witnessed the begin
ming of the struggle, we came, a few
rods further on, upon a strange sight.
The python lay before us, dead and torn
into three pieces. The head was chew
ed to a shapeless mass and the reptiles
whole appearance testified to the ter
rible fury with which the tiger must
have mauled his enemy, even after the
latter had become helpless.
I was heartily sorry for the fate of
the bave python that had given its life
for mine. I had it skinned, and if you
will come and see me sometime, viii
show you not only this skin, but that
Of tho Ii on1, too for fnlln1uino III the