Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1899-05-17
TALES OF FIERCE
PANTHER-TIG

he women of the little settle.
"hehts that lie isolated i'm the wooded
region at the eastern base nf the An.
oes greatly dread the panther tipe,
from mis- habit of carrying off child.
reh' Cunning, silent, and swift. in.
stances have been known of his TAX
ing "A child from the cradle in broad
daylight and bearing it away nm.
known to the mother W no WAS attend
ing TO her household duties only few
PAGES away. He hesitates as little IN
attacking full-grown persons. though
Tor TINS he commonly chooses the
darkness. But, dav or night. his
disposition to seize his human prev
Is governed largely by his hunger.
An Indian that | met at a little vii.
'age called Conception had a fright
iul zigzag scar across his forehead
the mark of n paw stroke of a nan.
ther- tiger. He showed me the mark :
OF two deep bites in his left shoulder
anu his legs IN front, from groin to
knees. were furrowed with long up
ana down sears, where skin and flesh
had once been literally torn into rib.
bons. all tokens of the same enconp
ter.
His story, verified by men who
had found him in the forest. was that
he was gathering medicinal plants i'm
the woodland, when "a panthertiger
Sprang upon him from tree limb.
Catching sight of the panther's NOV.
ing shadow, the man. who was pos
sessed of unusual strength and agili
ty' Jumped to one side. so that the
beast missed his spring. Striking
the ground beyond the man. the tiger
instantly turned and sprang again at
his throat. The Indians machete
was IN his hand, and be dealt the
tiger a blow on the head that seemed
to confuse the animal, for he seized
HIM with his teeth by the shoulder
instead of the throat. One stroke of
the forepaw tore the skin of the mans
forehead down over his ewes. but as
he staggered backward the trunk Of
a tree kept him from falling.
"Clinging with teeth and fore claws
to the mans shoulders, the tiger tore
at him with his hind claws in an eff
fort to dIsembowel him. By lucky
blow. for he was blinded bv blood
from the wound IN his forehead, the
man cut one of the tigers hind paws
completely off. The tiger dropped to
the ground, but reared at once and
seized the man again by the shoulder.
STOPPING, the Indian plunged his
machete in the tigers belly and with
quick upward stroke completely
disemboweled the creature. Then
the man tainted and was found, hours
later. 10y some passing woOdsmen, ly
ing uncOuciuus where he had fallen,
with the tiger dead beside him. lie
was carried home, where he hung for
weeks between life aud death, and he
never fully recovered from the effects
of his wounds received from he tiger.
Like other species of larger fe
lines the panther tiger has the un-
pleasant habit of stalking men-of
follOwinga man in the forest, through
out the whole day ii may be, waiting
for darkness to fall, when it wili at
tack him. This the beast has been
known to do when there were several
men together, and in such case
nothing can draw the attention of the
tiger from the particular man whom
he has selected for his prey. From
"a camp of timber cutters at work in
the forests south of Merida a mestizo
"a man of Spanish aud Indian de
scent-more intelligent than his com
rades, was sent one day TO prospect
along the mountain base for timber
trees. In the afternoon, as he round
ed back toward the camp, the feeling
came upon him that he was being fol
lowed. He looked back several times
but saw nothing to account for this
feeling. 1t remained with him, how
ever, and at last he stepped behind {
tree and looked back through th'
parasite vines that had wound them
selves about the trunk, saw the heaC
of panther tiger rise above Il cluml
of bushes, peering ahead as if trying
Il