Year: 1864




mOlogical net, and with q bottle of cyanide
of potassium in his pocket for the purpose
of killing his specimens, he had succeeded
in taking several species Of moths and
beetles, when, suddenly emerging OF an
open space, q gigantic female buffalo
charged right down upon him. Quick IS
lightning the nsrrator sprang up q tree
which fortunately happened to be near,
and slmOst before he had comfortably set
tied down upon one of the branches, q
buffalo calf appeared upon the scene, and
both mother and offspring sat down at the
foot Of the tree, directly under his position.
In order to attrsct the attention of his
friends who were il the neighborhood, or
Of any native who might happen to be
near, he shouted until he was hoarse-
Ever and anon, by way of variation, with
the vain hope of frightening away the buf-
falo, he awakened the EXTREMIST echoes Of
the jungle with his yells, and perpetrated
the most hideOus noises ever produced BY
the human voice. All was of no avail;
no friendly hand came to aid him, and the
brute still lay placidly licking and csress-
inc its calf He was about to assume
standing attitude in the tree when sud
denly his left hand, with which he had
seized branch above his head, was Sc
verely stung or bitten by some insect or
animal Starting with the acute pain, as
the fear Of whip OF tree snakes flashed
around his mind, he involuntarily loosed
his hold Of the bough, and, thus deprived
OF support, he lost his balance and fell
from his place of refuge. He dropped on
the buttalo's usck, and in another instant
was carried away at : tremendous pace
through the long, thick grass of the Jungle.
1t was difficult matter to keep his seat,
when all at once the buffalo sprang into a
large "tank," and he was immersed up to
bis neck IN water. Unable 20 swim, be
was obliged TO cling to the brute which for
3 time swsm round and round the pool at
her pleasure He only hoped his legs
would not be seized by one of the Allies-
tors, Of which he had seen seversi in the
water during the day. Then, 70 his inf
mite horror, a singing sensation ia his leg
made him feel sure he had again been bit
ten by another kind of serpent And still
the buffalo showed no signs of returning
/ to the land, when Just as he thought she
was preparing to lie down, he dug his heels
into her sides and delivered random blows
with his fists On her head and neck. Then,
striking out for the land, the brute spee1i-
ly reached the shore, on gaining which
she again commenced her mad gsllop. A
few minutes brought them to the spot from
which the animal had started, where the
calf was still standing. The buffalo was
preparing to lie down, when seizing the
branches Of the tree from which he had
fallen on the brutes neck, ne swung him.
self up into his old position He had not,
however, been long there when the smart
ing in his hand and legs caused him to re-
member that he had been bitten by snakes.
The very idea of this, and the knowledge
that one Of those venomous reptiles was in
the tree on whieh-he was perched, caused
deadly faintness, from which it was
some time before he rallied.


Alternately fsinting and reviving hour
after hour passed away, night dsrkened
! down upon the jungle, and the buffalo still
! kept watch and ward at the foot Of the
t. %. AT length, at an advanced hour of
the night, he suddenly became conscious
that tremendous struggle was going on
between the buffalo and some large wild
animal, which he Judged to be a tiger.
The growing Of the latter he continues
the grosns Of the buffalo, the noise of
their struggles, and the incessant bleating
Of the cali, combined in producing a series
Of sounds which in the darkness of night
appeared worthy of the inhabitants Of
Psndemonium. For full five minutes,
which appeared hours to me, the dreadful
struggle continued, until at length groans
Of the buffalo subsided into q series Of
convulsive gasps and sncrts, and the
sounds Of struggling on the ground almost
ceased. could, however, hear the tiger
growing, snarling, and splitting like an
| immense cat. Of course descent was now
quite out Of the question. therefore de-
~termined to remain where I was until day.
| light, If l did not die from the effects Of
| the snake bites before morning appeared.
So strong was the interest with which
listened and strained my eyes for the pur-
pose of learning what was going on below
| that l even ceased to think of this con-
| tingency, and forgot the death-like swoons
l had previously experienced. After soma
time spent in listening to the noise made
| by the animal while enjoying his feast Of
buffalo flesh, the sounds ceased suddenly
1 felt sure, however, that the beast had
not departed, for l had kept my eyes fixed
on the dark outlines under the shadow Of
/ the tree, and the mass remained of the
| same appearance l fsncied could trace
the form Of tiger lying alongside the
dead buffalo, and this was the shape the
| dark objects had assumed and retained
since the termination of the conflict


a. At length, however, suceOr was st
hand, Seeing light in the distance, he
shouted as loudly as he could, and this St
tracted the notice Of party who had set
out IN search Of him. On coming up to
the spot both tiger and buffalo were found
to be dead. On telling his friends he hsd
been bitten by snakes they first examined
his hand, and pronounced the wound he
received whilst in the tree to have been
caused by the sting Of hornet. On turn
ing down his stockings they discovered
| several leeches gOrged with blood, for
numbers Of these voracious animals had
bitten him during his ride through the
water on the buffalo's back. The faintings
he had experienced we're attributed to loss
Of blood from the leech- bites. They then
turned their attention to the dead tiger.
| Not wound was discovered about the car
case, but on slightly moving the body of
the buffalo, they discovered the bottle Of
cyanide Of potassium, which had been in
tended for chronological purposes, broken,
and partially introduced into the wound
in the neck from which the tiger had suck
ed the blood of his victim. While i'm
bibing the life-blood OF the buffalo the
tiger had also received one of the most
deadly pOisons known, which in the coursa
of very short time had produced its usual
fatal result. The position of the two ami
mails and of the deadly bottle left no room
for doubling that such had been tbe case.
On ascending the tree in such hot haste the
poison bottle and other little matters were
dropped and during the struggle between
| the animals the fOrnoar WAS broken and
perhaps even cut its way into the jugular
of the buffalo; thus probably assisting in
the death of the latter IS well as proving