Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-15

no hope of discovering their presence by any
hunting calls at night.
We met distinguished naturalist, Mr.. Ed
ward Jacobson, who told us that though he had
spent some six years in the jungles, making his
collection of mammals and had seen fresh tiger
tracks constantly about paths and camp, he
had never actually seen wild tiger at large.
Nor had he ever heard one roar in the forest,
from which he concluded that they seldom used
their voices. The only roaring tigers he heard
were those caught in traps.
The only thing for US to do was to find ouS
where tiger was doing any killing, then hurry
there at top speed and meet him when he re-
turned for his second meal. Unlike the lion,
tiger eats but little the first time to pounds,
perhaps, and then lies up near his kill, return
ing to it every "a hours until it is finished. He
comes back at night, and the idea was for us
to hide near the kill and get him as he re-
turned the second night. The controller, Mr..
Rookmaaher, agreed to telephone out word to
offer a reward TO the natives for an informa.
ton to us of tiger.
LIE told us that just three months before there
had been three horses taken by a tiger in
the road at Batang Paloepe. The tiger is not a
gentlemanly killer like the lion, who takes only
what he needs; the tiger strikes right and left
in his lust for blood. He is bad in that re-
spect as the cowardly hyena of Africa that will
run through q flock of goats hamstringing
every one he can reach.
There seemed to me many uncertainties to
this tiger business. Every story deepened this
impression.
There was tale of man who sat up in a
tree with no light beneath and no moon above;
he waited through the darkness till he could
endure it no longer; then at O'Clock he came
down to find that the tiger had been there,
noiseless and unseen, and had eaten the, entire
COW provided for bait, except one lonely hoof
and tonSil. ,s..-. 5,
Mr. Rookmaaher told another story of an old
man who had saved all his life for q COW. At
last he had money enough and with great care
bought his COW. That very night tiger sprang
at her. The old man was so frantic that he
rushed out with torch in his hands and flung
the blazing thing straight at the tiger, who
1eaped off the cow and crouched on the ground.
Desperate, the old man grasped a spike Of
bamboo about 4 feet long and rushed at the
tiger and poked him. OF the beast bounded to
one side; the frenzed old native picked him
again and this time the tiger bounded off
for good. But the COW died. There were two
deep wounds from the tigers teeth in her neck.
Next night the controleur came and dragged
the COW near the house and, with his friends,
sat among the chicken coops. The tiger came
back for his gorge and the hunter got him.
8atang Paloepoe seemed haunt of tigers, for
two years before beast had come to that very
place where the three horses had been killed.
Then there were some old women in the three
houses, which were frail little affairs set up on
stills from the ground.
In the night some of the old women heard
the tiger prowling about beneath the house
they were in and they shut the door firmly, with
all manner of barricades. The beast came
boldly up the ladder, but found he could not
bulge the door, then he climbed nimbly upon
the roof.