Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1905-05-19
A Tiger Hunt in China.
BY F. Hayley Bell.


roof of plated leaves. Derisive ac-
quaintances, who had never even seen
a tiger running wild, rode out from
the settlement and asked If it was
race meeting or a Punch and
Judy show? But we were satisfied; at
least it was better than roosting in
trees with all manner of nocturnal in
sects, and we made it Very comfortable
with a mattress and cushions. Here
we watched over Piggy II. for three
nights without result. On the fourth
we tried to tempt the tiger with dog,
which, however, apparently gnawed
through its rope and escaped, the most
serious part of the incident being that
neither my companion nor were
awake at the time.
Alas that such a trivial incident
should cause even temporary estrange-
ment between two fast friends. Even
if 1t was my watch, there were plenty
more dogs to be had; besides, the dog
had been sleeping comfortably when
last remembered. However, P. gath
cred up his textbooks and his punkah
coolie-whom he now called shikari
and pegged out claim at the other
end of the jungle; while decided,
since our quarry would not follow the
rules as laid down in books, to try to
deceive him with a simple plan of my
own. At sunset, then, with several
natives, l proceeded to tree some 100
yards from the one | intended to occu-
by. Here we tied UP lean, scraggy
pony and made the most noisy and
shameless preparations for sharing the
Ager. Soon after dark settled down |
yep quietly out of the tree, stole back
% the camy, and enjoyed the first
Nights rest | had had for a week At
hree | was called, and went down to
ny own tree. Now, l WI not guaran-
Pee this plan as infallible, and it may
De that the result had nothing to do
Yith what | still regard as rather an
%iginal idea; but about half an hour
Ter the first streak of dawn, and in
light by which a IA carbine is my
Ey excuse for not dropping him there
4 then, magnificent tiger emerged
the dense cover and passed with
D yards of my tree. At my first
1.-THE brute bounded into the air
made a dash in my direction, APP
Ching to within twenty yards of
Tree, where l gave him a second
Agh the right shoulder. With a
I, 8 dor he Il &c
lred into the cover again, and
in spite ofsour last ffasco,
to try a beat again.
/ Within an hour | had collected thir-
Fly men, and sent out coolies to find P.
The animals trail was easy to follow
for the bushes were splashed with
blood, but the underground was so
thick that in some places it was
necessary to crawl on hands and knees
In this position l suddenly heard roar
from the right of the line-of which
| was the center-and howl from one
of the men. Pushing through as fast as
| could | found an unfortunate beaten
had literally stumbled on the tiger and
of the foot being half torn off. 1 direct
ed two men to carry him out, and was
Just about to follow when | saw
through the foliage the yellow and
black stripes Of the tiger standing a
few yards off and perfectly motionless,
evidently listening to the banging and
the bowling of the heaters. who were
closing round. | took a steady shot at
what | imagined to have Jeen his ribs,
and the brute went down with a roar,
at which all the men near me fed
There were many trees around me,
and | hurriedly selected one, for trees
under certain circumstances were
meant for climbing. Before, however,
l had got as high as | wished branch
broke, and came down some fifteen
feet on to the ground. There was,
however, no sign of the tiger, and
returned to the open, where / found P.
had arrived. Between us we bound up
the mauled teater-who had actually
been dropped by his carriers, and had
crawled out alone-and sent him into
the settlement. Guided by the heaters,
who were now all up trees, and gave
one the impression of sailors c4inging
to the masts of sunken ships, P. and /
made another assault on the cover.
The tiger was snarling and tearing up
the grass within few yards of the
edge. It was impossible to aim at a
vital spot, owing to the foliage, SO we
each gave him bullet, and again the
brute went down with roar, evidently
(by the subsequent gasping and "thun-
dering") shot through the lungs. Here
we left him to stiffen or die, while we
poured buckets of water over each
other and cooled down. Within an
hour the painting sounds had ceased,
and soon the freed heaters called stit
that the brute was dead, but not man
would accompany US even those few
yards to find the carcass. 1t was now
getting late, and, as 1t was imperative
that we should secure our bag, and
induce the frightened villagers to come
down from their trees before it grew
dark, | started into the cover alone.
AS | crawled cautiously in man
called out something could not catch,
but which was warning that there
were two tigers.
An instant later the brushes to my
front were shaken violently, and, with
"a terrifying roar. smaller tiger, prob
ably the female, sprang out at me,
knocking me down backward. With
the brute standing right over me, /
doubled my self up, covering my body
with my arms and legs, and after
biting NE several times below the
knees, the animal sheered OF, and ]
crawled back to the open. The tiger
had won the second point and the rub
Der. for this ended our amateur tiger
hunt For some days after bringing
me back P. was laiI up with sunstroke,
while the villagers refused to~g near
tie cover For all know, the mould
ering aks 'etons of twenty-nine heaters
may -et hanE in the trees Of the Yik
ma il " le At least, somewhere hid
So a.. Ino ffrnr