The Breckenridge news., 1906-06-06
MAN EATING TIGERS.
Dangers Faced by sportsmen who
Hunt Them.


Men who have shot the "big cats Of
the Indian jungle" all emphasize the
difference between an ordinary tiger"
and a IMAM eater" One varies from
the other as much as a domestic pussy
from wildcat. The man eater when
1t catches sight of n hunter is at once
all ahame with the passion to devour
him. 1t has tasted human flesh and
knows its sweetness.
When the Brtisher in India goes IT,
ger hunting, therefore, he looks first of
all to his own safety. Having learned
that a tiger rarely looks upward, he
seeks n position at some distance from
the ground. as, for instance. the how
dab of an elephant or n machan or leaf
covered box perched in tree.
The tiger usually keeps its eyes on
the ground because it finds its prey
there and its enemies also. The natu-
raj inhabitants of the trees the birds
and the monkeys, it holds in contempt.
But on the ground, besides the sweet
fieshed man. lives the water buffalo,
its most formidable foe. In combat the
buffalo most times kills the tiger.
The peculiar sagacity of the elephant
is of great assistance to the man who
hunts tigers from the howdah. At the
approach of the big cat the pachyderm
trumpets an alarm, and If properly
trained it will snatch its master with
its trunk, should he be on the ground,
TIT hn oh 20
back. 1t then seeks the shadow of
some tree and stands perfectly still, as
if knowing that in this way 1t will
steady the hunters aim.
When one shoots tigers from the
machan, or tree ambush, he usually
picks a place where the beast is wont
to retreat when alarmed. With a COM
panion he hides himself in his nest. In
his hand he holds a magazine rifle
loaded and cooked, while in his belt he
carries half dozen pistols for instant
use should the gun fail him. Then he
sends out a score or more of natives
as beaters to drive the beast toward
him. Encircling the region, the beaters
begin to rap on the trees and to shout,
and these noises, because of their
strangeness, frighten the animal.
Yet when neither the howdah nor the
machan is available the tiger hunter
will seek the shelter of only a steep,
high rock. a captain Of the Indian
army recently killed huge man eater
with only rock for refuge.
"The very evening that l slew the
beast" he said, in telling of his ad-
venture, "the creature had devoured a
woman returning to the village with
a bundle Of wood she had cut in the
jungle. Only an anklet and some locks
of hair were left to tell of her fearful
fate. The villagers called me foolish
for trying to kill the brute, for they
said he would prove too cunning Man
eaters, they said, were far more cum
ming than tigers that had never tast-
ed human flesh. After they had sacri-
feed to their god, however, they be-
came more hopeful. The beaters went
out to drive him toward me. 1t seem
ed most likely he was lying under a
great banyan tree not very far away.
Meantime | perched myself on a rock
high over q stream. Soon l heard
fierce screams and knew that the beat
ers had found the tiger at home and
were driving him toward me. A mo-
ment later he crashed through the un-
derbrush hundred feet away. There
he stopped, his great tongue lolling
from his cavernous mouth. Hearing
the noise coming nearer. he skunk to-
ward the stream. My first bullet
caught him in the flank. 1t only an
gered him, and. lifting his head. he
glared at me with blazing eyes. II
was the first time he had seen me.
The sight of man seemed to drive
him mad. With fierce roar he leaped
upon me, but just as he rose in that
spring which meant the death of either
one of us my second bullet pierced his
heart, and he fell in heap at the bot
tom of the rock"