The herald., 1898-11-06

Trousers 10 AppmseH His Wrath

Nicely of New York and London, the wild
buffalo is the best game of the country. He
is about as large as an Alderney bull, OF a
black color and blackish skin, scantly
furnished with brstles, rather than hair.
His horns are large and extremely sharp.
lie is said to be untamablc, and is more
daring than even the lion or tiger. If he
scents 4 man he bellows and charges. 1t
makes no difference whether he be one man
or hundred, it is all the same to his bel
hgercnt mind. His habits are curious. Lv-
ing by day in, swampy forests or open
marshes, at night he comes forth from his
lair and invades the nearest field. As might
be supposed, the natives, who are not al
lowed TO use or even own firearms, treat him
with the greatest respect. 1T they see one
of the dreaded creaturs approaching, every
one of the party seeks safety in a tree. Even
then the vndictive brute will sometimes
remain at the foot of the tree, paving, snort
ing and believing for hours, and ii is said he
will wait for two or three days for the men
to come down. Whenever native is treed,
he first prays to the buffalo, entreating him
to go away. If this does not succeed, he
scolds for an hour or more. This failing, he
screams and yells, throws sticks and
branches, at the quadruped, then finally
throws down his trousers, the only article
Of raiment which he wears. The buffalo
stunps on this and tears it until his rage is
satisfied, and then goes away upon his busi-
ness.
Miss Hamm gave description of her
nntc-bellum travels and adventures in the
Philippines to the writer. 'The steamer
drops anchor" said Miss Hamm; "the voy-
age is done, and the traveller is now under
the shadow Of the red and yellow banner
Of Spain. The anchor is scarcely down when
vicious little steam tug, laden with GUS
toms officials and soldiers, dashes up to the
side and makes fast to the companion lad
der. Then small regiment OF men pour out
Of the craft on board the steamer There
IL an inspector, proud and imperious, who
goes immediately to the captains private
room. He receives the ships papers and the
passports OF all the passengers, which must
be taken to the government house and there
entered and again vised. There is another
Inspector, whose duty apparently it is to
see that the ship is in good sanitary condi-
tion and that there is no contagious dis
ease on board. There is third inspector,
whose duties are seemingly to keep sharp
watch upon the officers of the shin. lest
these should take wings and fly away. A
fourth inspector and fifth stand on either
gunwale, to prevent wicked passengers or
seamen from passing dutab!e goods out of
tale floats, into the water below Then there
are several inspectors or searchers, who 90
through the ship. Most important of all is
a company of soldiers who belong to the
Spanish army of the Philippines.
"It is considered a great privilege to do
custom work and to get an occasional cup
of coffee, table delicacy or cigar from some
one on board the steamer. So the thought
full Spanish general assigns his best men to
this branch of the service. In seeing these
soldiers, therefore, you see the best of the
Spanish infantry in the far east. They are
not q bad-looking set. They are nearly ali
young ranging from l6 and II years Of age