The Farmington times and herald. (Farmington, St. Francois Co., Mo.) 1902-1905, 1903-12-24
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BY GILES UNDERWOOD

TROM among the many strange incl.
dents of his long residence in Hon
duras. related by my old comrade In
arms, Henry DaCres. select the follow
ing as evincing wonderful presence of
mind In moment of deadly peril.
"One day" said he. Il came down out
Of the hills for the purpose Of exploring
some bottom lands where ! was tOh
A number Of unusually fine mahogany
trees might be found In a certain valley,
supposed TO be about T. miles from my
camp. After tedious search | finally
discovered the place. and seeing ut q
glance that II really contained many
grand trees. ! dlsmountcd. tied my mule
to a sapling. and began close inspec-
ton on foot
"As the weather was very hot and
every extra ounce OF weight burden. |
left my repeating rifle slunG to the sad
die and my heavy reyulycrs To the hols-
ters This was very foolish thing for
an old woOdsman and hunter TO do but
no suspicion Of possible danger crossed
my mind at the moment and was soon
so deeply miners d In my estimates that
| never gave the matter thought
THE valley where now found myself
was a strangely damp gloomy and lone
~ spot. looking as II II had never been
troddon by the foot of civilized man; and
although | saw there was plenty Of
money in II for me- felt an uuaccount-
able depression Of spirits while explor.
ing IT,
ny and hy began to realize that ]
was much fatiRuod and very hungry
and ms It was now long past noon sat
down on a log to eat light lunch, which
| had brought In my pockets. This con
sisted IN rely of bread and meat and
nusk of cold coffee, and was munching
away. wAen was aroused by n great
commutiOn among a uumbcr0f monkeys
porchcd in the tops Of some adjacent
palms
Being thoroughly COnvCrsant With
the habits Of these saGacious little croa.
turls, knew al once from their alarmed
gatherings and cries Of rage that some
dangerous animal-.prohahly puma
was In the vicinity However, | had no
groat fears for my own safety, knowing
that the puma. or panther will rarely at
tack even a single man in daylight.
But did fear that the beast, what.
ever It was. might scent the mule, now
about 800 yards distant, and either
pounce upon It or causci 10 break away.
As this mule was tn" very best owned
m Invaluable saddle beast, | lost no time
In attempting to reach IT, So far had
seen no signs Of n wild animal but all
the same | was convinced that the mon
Legs had given TO iasc alarm, and that
danger II some Kind was near.
Il WAS making my way through the
underground rs fast as possible. and
keeping n sharp lool ont. when caught
sight of somcthing which gave me thrill
Of terror. and caused mC bitterly to re.
greet the folly of leaving my arms be-
hind. for. crouchod low upon hts belly
directly In my patch and not more than
20 PAGES ahead. a full-grown male jaguar
lay beside bush. .intcntly watching me!
AT this sight | stood for moment or
two stock still. and could plainly dis
tInguish the beautiful, ringlike spots
upon the animals glossy hide. the cruel
CLEAN of his greenish yellow eyes, and
mark the nervous. but as yet slight.
twitching of his slowly moving tail.
II had not thought of such a foe ns
this the jaguar being the largest and
fiercest of all the American Fclidae. lie
In common with the panther, is much
dreaded by the natives Of Honduras but
there is no comparison between the
brutes. the jaguar being much larger
than the latter and much more formid-
able.
HE is, indeed. not far below the tiger
OF India In size. and is quite his equal in
forocity; and although generally of a
like sneaking and cowardly nature, he
will, on occasion. display the same reck-
less courage which at times inspires his
Asiatic congener.
Honduras people call both these great
cats ell tigre. although the true tiger is
not found In America However. the
Jaguar Is pretty fair substitute: and II
is said that he, too. after once tasting
human blood, becomes confirmed man
eater. Certainly the very fine specimen
now blocking my path looked rs II about
to begin this role by making meal Of
me.
Il had no weapons about me except
naclxpt kpifn md npa nf fboaa tbraa-ipc
single barrel. large bore Derringer pis-
tolls, designed especially for defense when
one is closely grappled by a foe. This was
In my waistcoat pocket, and loaded. but
had not a second cartridge. and at best
the diminutive. though powerful weapon
would be. from the difficulty Of taking
aim with II, Of no use at greater dis
lance than foot or two.
Nevertheless. as in this particular case,
the extreme Of rashness might prove the
height Of prudence. and knowing full
well that II remained long motionless
the jaguar would spring upon me and
bear me to the earth. took the pistol in
my right hand. and with a loud yell.
rushed straight at him!
THE beast was so astonished by this
maneuver that he actually bounded
clear over the bush and out Of my way,
and ran on with all my mighttoward the
mule, but kept continually looking back
to see whether was followed. BY this
nrst dash gained full 100 Yards. and be-