Birmingham state herald., 1895-10-12

the Loss of Human Life-After This an
 Extra Hole In the Hide win Not Be Such an Important Consideration.
 Arriving at the village of Deypoora, three miles from Ruttenghur fort, we were here told of tiger that had lately. killed very many bullooks, so we started with sev- eral men to look himsup. We were taken to ravine in the plains named Loonee and had taken up our position on rocky ledge wien we wcre, recalled by a m5in who had sesn tho tiger. He directing las to the spot, we .caut7eSsly adyanceds and looking over the steep '. ak of tho ravine saw the tiger stretched Nit at full length just tisfee yards or less below us. lIe looked up and grlnned horribly. We in stantly gave him a bullet each, whereupon he sprang into tho cover below and was out of sight even before WIG could get second shot On going down thesbank we soon found drops of blood and easily car ried these on for some distance down the ravine, when all at oncof. they entirely ceased The ground was bare sheet rock, or large slabs of flat stones; so no foot prints could be discovered. After going on some little distance we met man tending a herd of goats who denied hav- ing seen the tiger pass, and indeed 1t was but too evident from the unconcerned manner in which'tho goats browsed and cropped the bushes around that they had seen no such formidable animal lately So we retraced out steps to again search for the blood when suddenly man by signs pointed to cave formed by large ledge of rock that had fallen from above. We knew his meaning, though it much sur prised us, for we had only just passed close by this verySplaoe, looking for the tigers prints. a1ss sts
 All the men, as usual, were at once or dered to a safe distance in tho rear, while, placing our spare guns before Us, we knelt down to polish off this tiger at an unp1eas- antly close distance, for we were prevented by steep bank behind us from going farther back, and view could not be ob- tained from any other point. As it was, all VIC could make out were the tigers eyes shining very clearly in the dark cave with an indistinct outline of his face. We silently agreed to fire together on the word, "One, two three, being given by one of us. On the smoke clearing away, we were delighted to sec our foe stretched out stiff on his back, the white of his belly being uppermost and very visible. On go- ing nearer, two small holes one over each eyebrow, from which streams of blood flowed, caused us to congratulate each other on our good aim. Wo now walked close up and saw that the cayo in which this tiger had tried to hide himself, al though it had but a small entrance, was large enough inside.
 While talking over our lucky shots we observed one of the tigers arms slowly move, but as if from mere muscular &C., tion, caused by its weight and the posi- tion the beast was lying in. On noticing this suggested that another shot should be given to make sure, but Little slightly objected, on the ground that 1t was only useless1y making holes and so spelling the skin. On this I agreed to fire where our knives would first be used in taking off the victim's jacket, so at once, while we were looking into tho cave, without put ting my gun to my shoulder, placed its muzzle opposite the tigers chest and fired the remaining loaded barrel. All this time the men, who from a distance had seen us so near the tigers den, came running up toward us in a great state Of delight at their enemy being killed, for so they and we both thought was indeed the case. h. stead of which, no sooner had fired than, Wltn I lTlRllVlUl TOdTt up JuiupOu ullG blSSlJ as lively as ever. With one bound Little, who is remarkably strong and active, gained the top of the high ledge of rock that formed the tigers cave. Hero he kept guard with his spare loaded barrel pointed over the mouth of tho den, our other guns we had left on the ground on walking up to first look at the tiger For my part, in the most dreadful state of alarm, I at once rushed through the men who had now come up and were crowding around us, upsetting three or four and myself in so doing.
 For the moment there was terrible panic, and, the ground being very uneven and stony, everybody seemed to fall over and trip up everybody else. Some climbed small trees like monkeys, while others in their fright ran clean out of sight without stopping to look behind. All this time tho tiger was roaring awfully. l fully be- leyed that he was outside tho cave, killing each man as he caught him, instead of which, being much confused, he luckily remained in tho den, around and around which he kept walking, seemingly with out being able to find his way out At last, gaining my legs, snatched up gun and climbed up small thin tree just in front of tho den. There were two men al ready in this slight tree, so its branches bent down unpleasantly close to the ground with our weight. From this point fired 12 more shots, at only as many yards distance, into this tiger. before he was quiet. Only his fore arm and lower part of his belly could be hit every time he appeared at the mouth of tho cave. All now being still, we came down from our high posts and this time found the beast really dead, riddled with balls. The ap- pearanoe of the ground Ayas very laugh able. Guns, drums, bows, spears, shoes, turbans, were scattered all over the place. Some poor fellows were sadly bruised. It appeared that our shots had merely for the time stunned this tiger, missing his brain, which lies in long narrow cell directly between the eyes and on the extreme top of the forehead. The shot in his chest most effectually revived him.
 This was most extraordinary and lucky escape for all of us, for supposing him quite dead, we should have begun to haul him out of the cave and at once proceeded to skin him on the spot, during which operation the beaters usually all crowd around and discuss the brute's death and recall tho losses he has accustomed in his day Taking off his skin would, no doubt have revived the tiger, when the oonse- quences that might have ensued are terri III AI---