The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1909-10-07
BILKINs IN INDIA.


notion ter make a dinner ov Us.
They furnished the bull cart to haul
j our guns and grub. I rode Bob an
we carried plenty OF dried grass fer
him TO eat. l doubt IL a similar
huntin' party ever started after big
game in India. / am certain that
Bob wuz the first American mule to
go on hunt fer elephants an man
eatn' tigers. After travelin' a few
hours we arrived at a bungalow be-
longin' to a brother ov one of my
Indian companions. Near hiz place
wuz a stretch of hilly, rocky land,
| timbered, but too rough fer cultiva-
| ton. Punjab had informed me in
broken English that big woods full
ov tigers and elephants" SO I felt
| that they'd soon be somethin' doin'.
| In fact, az we wuz passin' near a
thickly wooded hill Bob seemed ter
be existed az IL he scented big game.
Thinks / to myself IL Bob really kin
| locate big game I'll place another
| thousand dollars on hiz already high
market value.
Punjab an Banneriee an the
brother ov Punjab, at whose home
we wuz visitors, soon had things in
shape fer a chase. l rode Bob an
they furnished me with a heavy,
long-range elephant gun, hit really
bein' a small-sized cannon, an we
wuz soon off fer the hunt Banner
jee an the two Punjabs each car
ried guide guns. Az I wuZ mounted
on Bob. they picked their way SO 1
could follow. Bannerjee sed that my
mule would make nice little dinner
fer a tiger onless / did some fine,
quick shootin'. But he added that
he guessed I'd rather the tiger
would eat the mule than to eat me.
Don't worry" seq I. "This mule
kin kick half ov the tigers in India
to death in twenty minits If he had
them in a five-acre lot with a guide
fence GROUND hit, ter keep the tigers
from escapin'."
l noticed that the three natives
wuz goin' very carefully an they
seemed ter be searchin' every spot
ov ground with their eyes az we ad-
Vanced through the timber. Pres
emily Punjab stopped an made a
Warnin' motion with one hand, bein'
slightly in advance. We awl stopped
then, at sign from him, slowly ad-
vanced to where he wuz standin'.
Punjab pointed hiz finger toward
the cause ov hiZ caution, now plainly
through the trees, magnificent
tiger, which wuz lynn upon a large
rock enjoyin' the sunshine. He must
hev bin dozin' or he would hev scent
ed us before we got so close to him.
HiZ instinct or somethin' must hev
warned him to be watchful, fer at
that moment he got up an glanced
about, givin' low growl at the same
time. l am not an experienced tiger
hunter, but, without waitin' fer in
structions from my companions, 1
got busy. Bringin' the great rifle to
my shoulder an pointin' hit rite over
Bob's head, 1 quickly drew a guide
bead an pulled the trigger. Bang!
went the great gun. here wuz a
little puff of smoke an hit partly OBJ
scured the game fer moment, but
the bullet had done hits work. The
tiger gave a terrific grow1 an strug-
rock. My Hindoo friends evidently |
believed that the shot wuz a guide !
one fer they started toward the ferO-
cious animal at once, an l followed. |
He wuz certainly dyin', but what a
struggle hit wuz! Hiz long tail
wuz lashin' his great striped sides, !
an he growled an snarled in a ter
rible manner fer a few moments,
but wuz evidently CROWN weaker. l
am w1llin' to admit that / wuz ex-
sited. Bob Wuz, too. He wuz not
used ter SIGH az that. Presently the
ed cautiously. I had slipped another
cartridge in the big gun an my COM
panions had their guns ready fer any
emergency. Anvil grew quiet. HE
is Dead" sed Punjab. We then adj
vanced. There he lay, hiz great body
filled with muscles, wuz quiverin' an
jerkin', but hiz life wuz awlmost
gone. Az we looked he gave one
gurglin' gasp, feeble struggle. an
then awl wuz over. I dismounted an
hitched Bob to a sapplin' an patted
hiz neck with my hand, tellin' him
that he wuz worth hundred thous-
and dollars, an he seemed nifty
proud Then we went to get closer
view ov the dead animal, one ov the
kings ov the forest. "Big tiger" sed
Punjab; "big tiger" sed Bannerjee.
YES, he IL big tiger" seq I. "but
somehow, or somehow else, he don't
look half az big now that he IL dead
az he did a-lyin' on that rock alive.
He looked az big az a terbacker
warehouse just before fred that
gun" Punjab an Bannerjee never