The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-08


passed through a party of men gathering
rubber and spoke with several of them.
Further on he passed boy who was herd
ing a small flock OF goats.
He reached the camp before dark, and
after supper lay down in an open hut with
twelve or fifteen men lying about him,
having no thought that the tiger would
venture among them. But as soon as the
fire before the hut burned low the tiger,
which must have been watching and wait
ing near the camp. came, and threading
his way among the sleeping men without
waking them, sprang upon the man whom
he had been stalking through the after
noon and tried to carry MIN off. The strug-
gle and outcry, of course. aroused the
camp, and spTinging to their feet, the
mans companions, with their macheteS
and live brands snatched from the fire,
succeeded in making the tiger drop his
prey and run off. But the creature prowled
about the camp all the rest of the night,
frequently coming plainly into view and
IL was only by building several large fires
before the hut, with guard of men re-
naming awake to replenish them, tEat the
tiger was kept away.
I'm the morning none of the men dared
leave the camp. AT about o'clock the
foreman, who had gone away the day be-
FORE taking with him the only gun In
the outfit, returned TO the camp. He
wondered as he came near il that none OF
the men was at work, and FASTENED his
steps to find out what the trouble was.
Just before coming to the clearing he
CHANGED to raise his eyes and there, on
the low limb of a tree overhanging the
path he saw a panther-tiger lying crouch
ed. watching the camp so intently that IL
seemed not to notice him. The chance for
disabling shot was perfect, and at TWEEN
| ty PAGES away the foreman sent In an
ounce bullet from one barrel and charge
81 h...l rV,.k h. oil, Inc A.
behind the tigers left shoulder. The tiger
came to the ground with a broken shout
der and bullet in his body that must
| have reached the heart, but with these
set-backs he was 30 lively that he kept
| the foreman lodging about behind trees,
while the men at the camp stayed away
| at a safe distance for several minutes be-
fore he dropped and died. saw the tigers
| skin a year after this occurred and heard
| the story I have just related from the
| foreman. The skin had probably stretch
| ed some In the process of dressing IL. At
| this time 1t measured feet and inches
| from tip to tip.
This sanguinary beast having fixed his
eye upon the man who had gone 10 exc
| plore for timber, had followed him for at
| least six hours in daylight, leaving I'M
| moested the scattered party of rubber
| gatherers, whom ne must have turned
| aside to avoid and the boy and herd of
| goats lndt OHETGu MN an easy ana I'M
| mediate victim. Never relinqushing his
| pursuit, he had waited near the camp
until all was still and dark, and then, from
| among fifteen men, had searched out and
| seized him. and was still watching for
| the selected victim when shot. II was a
striking instance of the perslstency in
| pursuit of prey once marked for slaugh-
ter that characterlzes all the members,
| small and great, of the feline genus.
| ITO try to hunt the panther tiger as the
| lowland jaguar Is hunted with tiger
| hounds is next to useless. In the rough,
rocky country in which he makes his
home he will travel away at a speed
| which leaves the hunters hopelessly be-
| hind, and II Is rare that the dogs can come
up with him. II they do. II means some
dogs killed. with the panther usually gone
| before the hunters can arrive on the scene
| Sometimes the ranchmen trap or poison
the panther tiger TO stop his ravages
among their stock, thing, despite his
| cunning. not SO difficult to do, owing TO
| his nervousness.
| AN Englismam named Turnhull who
had ranch east Of Merida, being bother
| ed by a panther-tiger which killed his
| stock, thought that he would hunt him af-
ter the method often employed In India
| with tigers and leopards. Taking with
| him two of his herders and a goat he
| went at nightfall to a woodland which
| There he tied the goat 10 a stake and took
his position behind blind, fifty yards
away. to walt for the tiger 10 come for
the goat The ranchmen he sent a little
distance back with instructions to await
! his summons
Surely enough. the tiser came but af-
Ter accommodating the ground unseen. as
was shown by his tracks next day. in
stead OF tackllng the goat, he made a ir-
| cult and bounced upon the back of the
| hunter lying on the ground behind his
| blind. heavy oVercoat that he wore the
| season being winter when the nights are
cold In the mountains, saved the hunter
for the moment from the tigers teeth
| and claws, and his shouts brought the
| two ranchmen to the rescue. They at
| tackled the tiger pluckNy with their ma
! chetes. The beast was loath to give up
his prey He drove the ranchmen back
| twice, returning to the Englshman each
time and standing guard above him, with
| his forepaws on his body. Az last one of
| the rachmen threw a lasso over tho
| tigers neck and jerked It tight. The ami
| NAL charged him at once, but the men got
| a turn of the rope round a small tree, and
| both pulling hard together, drew the tigers
| head close 10 the trunk. Then as the
| tiger snapped at the rope with his teeth
| one of the ranchmen severed his spine
! with his machete. The Engnshman was
badly shaken up by the unexpected out
| come OF his hunting scheme, but was lot
| much injured otherwise He finished the
| beast, which now, of course was helpless
| with a snot in the head. and he always
| claimed the glory Of killing him. But it
| was never heard that ne tried East In
| dian hunting methods again with Vene-
zuelsn panther-tlgers.
Several times panther-tigers have kill
| ed stock at camps where / was staying,
| and once a herdsman in my party was
| killed by one of these beasts within hun
| dred yards of the campfire. His body we
found, partly eaten, q quarter Of a mile
| from the place where he was struck down.
| Only once ! had brush with one of these
| animals. The encounter was startling
| one, and for some minutes things looked
squally for me and my native guide. But
| we escaped unhurt, and, as the affair
| turned out the joke was on the tiger. Ii
came about in this way Antonio and l.
| in travelling on a by-trail out of the noun
| tains, had stopped for the night in de
| serted nut built against the hillside. The
hut was a large one plastered with mud
and IL had one door with an unqIaze1