Year: 1872




A correspondent of the London Stand.
ard, writing from Hong Kong, on Octo-
Dor II, describes one Of the entertain
ments supplied by the Meharah of Singa-
pore to the Grand Duke Alexis, in
honor of the visit of the latter TO the
island. He says After luncheon the
party proceeded to witness fight be-
tween buffalo and tiger. Those who
had never seen combat of this kind
would have been inclined to bet freely
on the latter; but the natives said that
the chances were in favor of the buffalo,
and, indeed, that the tiger was never
known to win. The arena in which the
animals were to fight was of an oval
form, some fifty feet long by about
twenty wide, in an enclosure of bamboo
poles, fifteen feet high, firmly driven
into the ground and strongly fastened
together. Similar poles, laid across the
top, formed the roof The whole struc-
ture had the appearance OF gigantic
cage. A platform built outside enabled
the more distinguished visitors to have a
good view of the interior from safe
distance through the spaces between the
poles, while the general public crowded
round the cage as close as their respect
for the claws of the tiger would
allow. The buffalo was confined
to one end of the cage by a can
vas curtain stretched across the are
ma; the tiger was inclosed at the other
extremity by poles across from
one wall to the other. When the fight
was to begin the curtains were with
drawn, the poles were removed, and the
animals were for the first time seen by
the spectators. The buffalo stood for
seme moments at his end of the cage,
looking with little apparent interest to-
ward his foe. The tiger was sitting on
his hasnehes, seemingly unconscious Of
the presence Of his formidable adver-
sary, his attention being attracted by
the crowd outside. After waiting for
some time, the buffalo seemed to think
he might as well make closer inspec-
ton, and slowly and deliberately walked
TO the other end. The tiger was now
clearly aware of his presence, for he
turned his head over his shoulders, and
watched the approach of the buffalo
with evident anxiety. His eye glareu,
but he did not move a muscle. The |
buffalo was almost near enough to |
touch him with his muzzle. But at
length and before the buffalo made any |
sign of attacking him, he jumped up |
and galloped off as fast as his legs could |
carry him round the cage. The buffalo |
followed, and jammed him against the
wall with his horns. The tiger, in re-
turn, gave the buffalo one scratch on
the neck and another over the eye, just |
as cat might do, and then fell, appa-
rently dead. But his breathing betrayed |
him; he was only shamming. No one |
seemed to understand this better than |
the buffalo, who stood close by, and kept
his eye on him, but disdained to touch |
him while he vas down. For some time
the two animals maintained their respec- |
tive positions, till at length the public
beean 20 be impatient. They stirred up |
the tiger with pole, but that was Of no
use: then they tried crackers, and for
some time they succeeded no better. 1t
was not till bundle was thrown close to
the tigers nose that he got thoroughly
reused. Bat he had evidently no inten,
ton Of fighting. He again, Eaa ,round
the cage, was again pursued by MS ~.
lentless enemy, and severely gored, and
once more sank to the ground. This
process was repeated several times,
always with the same result-the tiger
would not fight the buffalo, and the but
falo could not kill the tiger. At length
the men on the roof lowered rope with
moose in the end, in which they caught
up the tiger by one Of his hind legs, and
while he was hanging, the buffalo COM
pletely finished him. But the Grand
Duke was spared the pain Of witnessing
the latter part Of the spectacle, as he lett
when the tiger counterfeited death for
the second time. The natives we're right
--the tiger fights unwillingly when he
cannot surprise his enemy. But the
Rajah had taken unusual pains to make
the combat as equal as possible, for the
tiger was a very savage one, while the
bpfalo, but two days before, had been |
quietly dragging a cart along the road.


The contemporary Of the man who is
strong enough to take bull by the tail
and throw him over a fence lives in
Leayenworth. Being set upon by q
ferocious Texan COW, he seized her
horns. threw her upon her back and held