Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1896-12-17
FIGHT WITH A TIGER"
ny ". THOMSON.


At one period Of my somewhat ad.
venturous life, and when many years
younger than now, was engaged in the
then lucrative business Of mahogany
cutting In British Honduras, my camp
being situated on the headwaters OF
Quesada river, q small afiiueut Of the
Belize, by which route our logs were
Aoated to the port Of the same name
for shipment to Europe.
Though this valuable timber more
particularly abounds in the billy, semi
mountainous regions Of the country,
exceedingly large individual trees are
occasionally found in the densely wood
ed valleys, and these giant specimens
are so highly priced that it often pays
TO cut a special road through tho
tangled, vine-enlaced forest to each one.
Now it one time happened that the
Liverpool dealers to whom my ship
ments were usually consigned request
ed me to send them at any cost as many
Of these extra-sized logs as could OBJ
tain up to certain date. Such were
not to be found in the immediate neigh.
borhood Of our camp, however. Hence
! one morning mounted my fayorite
saddle mule and rode toward Ell
Demonio valley, some ten miles away.
which my hali-breed foreman assured
me contained considerable number Of
extraordinarily fine, though scatter
ing. trees.
This place, was told, had been
christened Ell Demonio (the devil) val
ley by the superstitious natives, not
only because Of its gloomy, wild-beast
infested character, but also because
there was connected Herewith an old
blood-curdling legend as to the conf
plete and sudden humiliation Of its
ancient irhabitants-a gruesome and,
probably. wholly apocryphal tale, too
long to repeat here.
After weary ride over rugged hills
and through lonely, brush-encumbered
ravines. arrived at the edge OF the
valley, and, securing my mule by a
trebled. unbreakablc lariat to a tree.
in Q comparatively open spot, set out
To explore the forest, which in some
places was SO matted and intergrown
with clinging parasites as to be almost
impervious to human passage, and abb
solutely SO to the suns cheering ruys
In this region Of nearly constant rain,
the sweltering, torrld heat Of the low
lying valley was so oppressive that to
avoid the labor Of carrying It, ! very
foolishly left my repeating rife
strung to the saddle, and took with me
only the revolver belted to my waist, u
flask Of water and light ak; the lat
ter for the double purpose OF putting
presumption marks on selected trees and
"blazing' line by which | might,
when ready to leave, find my way outof
this wondrous wilderness of semi
tropical growth.
For nearly three hours, occasionally
climbing a lofty tree to gain better
view of my surroundings, ! toiled
through those terrible woods, and did
succeed in finding 81 remarkably large,
straight mahoganies, the least of which,
when brought to port. would be worth
hundreds Of dollars. Then, fearfully
tired, and hungry as a wolf, ! turned
beck to rejoin the mule, in whose pan.
nier was stored a generous supply OF
food.
So far no rain had fallen this day, but
now heavy. black clouds obscured the
sky, and | knew by the deadly stiffness
Of the sitting atmosphere that should
shortly be caught in one Of those ire
mendous downpours characteristic Of
the country. Though good drenching
was not likely to hurt me at all, the
rain would inevitably fill the open
mouthed hayersack, and reduce to a
pulp the bread-and-biscuit part OF my
lunch, besides spelling the modicum OF
teaand sugarwhich had brought along
with the intention of building u little
fire and brewing pannikin OF refresh
ing drink to go with my meal. Hence,
pressed with desperate energy through
the thick underground, hoping to reach
the mule in time to cover those perish
able articles with waterproof CLOAK
which was strapped behind the saddle.
In those forest depths the light had
been dim enough even when the SKY was
clear, but now, though 1t was only two