A NIGHT IN A JUNGLE.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 100, 28 April 1888, Page 2

A NIGHT IN A JUNGLE.

Startling Incidents of a Viger

Bunt.

A DISPUTE OVER THE BAIT,

Curious Mishap to a Hunter's GunFatal Oversight of the Tiger.

[Two Englishmen go up the Salwcon river, in Lower Burmah, in three canoe:', with some seven or eieht natives (Kareus) to hunt a sambhur (tiger, or man-eater). The canoes contain two goats, to be used for bait and a tent, besides arms and ammunition. After describing a hard struggle with the current of the river the writer tells the story of a night in the jungle.] By-andby we reach the end of the gome, and emerge upon a wider part of the rive" where the current is less powerful, and we can make better progress. From a lone stretch of eand which now forms the left bank we are hailed by some Burmans, who have camped there to cut bumboos on the neighbouring lulls, and crossin t over to hear their tiding*, we learn thai a large tiger (all tigers are large until they are shot) has visited the locality every night since, their arrival a week before. It roars so much that they arc afraid and cannot sleep, and hope the white strangers will bring their guna and kill it. We li.-ten to their tale of woe, and then run the canoes ashore. No mistake about it. Numerous pugs on the sand confirm the bamboo cutters' news, so the baggage is landed and the tent pitched in fcho shade of the jungle. Wo have landed on a belt of forest which, during the monsoon, is an island, for behind it there is another broad, curving sweep of sand, studded with rocks and. pools, and strewn with teak logs. Here and there the forest is divided by narrow creeks which mark the course of the river when in flood. Beyond the strip of sand are lofty hills, whose bamboo-covered slopes afford concealment to plentiful game, for sambhur tracks cross and .reoross the sand in every direction, the edge of ono particular pool showing it to be a favourito resort of the deer for their nightly drink. The place was beyond all doubt the regular beat of a tiger, probably the one of which Easton had heard the stories that had led to our expedition. Pugs old and recent formed many definite, well-trodden paths, ono of which ran within a few yards of the bamboo-cutters' hut, though concealed by jungle. He was certainly not very far off now, and we congratulated ourselves on our luck in finding him at home. There is much difficulty as to the disposal of the goats to-night with 'stripes' in tha immediate neighbourhood, and our decision to tether them near the 'lean-to' is productive of a good deal of grumbling, Tio up goats close beside poor naked boatmen I Why, they will cry all night, and when the

tiger comes it will certainly take a man instead ; not a doubt of it! Near the tent, now, would be a much safer place. Howover we purauade them that there is no danger (for there really is none), and inally after lighting large tires at four different, points round the lean-to, the occupants consent to picket the Route to stakes near it. Eautou and I, pasted in our maehans, | patiently watched our goats until day, undisturbed by the tiger. We have all read the thrilling acounts of successful shooting published in tlie sporting papers from time to time; but no one obtrudes a record oi his monotonous wakeful nights, fruitlessly spent among the gloomy surroundings of the jungle waiting for tho tifier that does not come ! ~ . , pisappointed (perhaps unreasonably) at the tiger's failure to give us a meeting on the night wo were prepared tor him, we next day decided to let him take his chance, and arranged to spend the approaching nipht on tho outlook for tho sambhur which had tempted our guns on the previous one. 1 selected for my ambush a nook on a low, sloping rock, overlooking a hu'.i'e pool, around which there were numerous fresh tracks of deer. This nook 1 had roofed in roughly with khine-grass, to keep oil the heavy dews, and to assist in concealing me. It was a lovely moonlight night, dear and cold, when I took up my station shortly after dark, accompanied by a young Karen, to whom I intrusted tho responsibility of keeping me awake. Hour alter hour wo sab there, three feet above the level of tho sand, to which the rock shelved gently down ; the startling bark ot a distant door, the musical ringing call ol the bell-bird, and tho screaming of insects in the foliage around, were the only signs ot Life. Cold and chilly, the night drew on, whilst on the far side, of tho pool, well out of ran»e, an occasional sambhur issued from (.ho juntrlo and stalked solitary and ghostlike ai:roßS tho wind, slopping every dozen yards toanifl'thn air suspiciously. Weaned md sleepy, I lay bank against the rock as a sambhur disappeared for thethirdtimo without giving me ;i shot. My rifle lay across my knees, and some isvil spirit prompted mo to open the brooch, that it might lie more easily upon I hem. Tho moon was sinking, and the white clammy mist came rolling in huge billows down tho mountain side, hiding the trees thirty yards away, and making tho night colder and damper with its heavy shroud. Darkness and discomfort have a bad effect on the nerves, and I felt, as I sat there, in no mood for great deeds of daring. Tired and indifferent, I had dozed off to sleep, when my companion touched my arm lightly and whispered tho single word Mfya' (tiger). I awoke with a start find looked in tho direction indicated. Here ho was, coming slowly through the miat, straight toward tho rock, with the easy rolling swagger a tiger afl'ects when he is on the prowl. I clutch my rifle and snap the breech. Great heavens ! For the first time sinca I owned the weapon, it refuses to close! The tiger, off which I have not taken my eyes, haa reached the foot of the rock, and, attracted by my movements, deliberately pauses to gaze at tho apparition it beholds. With tho useless rifle in my hand, I sit facing it, utterly unable to move, and tho Karon, crouched beside me with his head between his knees and his hands clasped abovo it, is trembling in every limb. The litho, grey-looking form is only six feet from mo, and with two short steps can enter the nook and select either of us at his leisure. The fixed stare of the blazing green eye-balls seems to paralyse mo ; for fully half a minute—it seemed an hour—ho stands there motionless, but at longth ho passes on, still keeping his oyos on mo until ho disappears round tho corner of the rocks a few feet away. Relieved of that appalling stare, I breathe more freely, and, straining my eyes in the direction I expect the tiger will take, with desperate eagerness exert all my strength to close the breech of the rifle. I can feol no obstruction, for it is, of course, too dark to see, but it will not close, and I pause—to see once more that mesmeric gaze fixed on me.

Dissatisfied with his first scrutiny, the tiger has paused round the rock and returned to repeat it. It is sickening. Helpless and dazed, I sit there blandly roturning the steadfast stare that so perfectly unnerves me. This interview lasts longer than tho first. 1 cannot close my eyes even if 1 would. The perspiration streams down my face, and I feel the cold drops trickling slowly down my back. Bow I curse the brute for his calm, dispassionate gaze ! How I curse my own folly in not having selected a tree to shoot from ! For now, though 1 am now shaking all ovor, a strange dotiant feeling is creeping over mo, and, thank God !■— tho tiger once more turns away, and this time quietly takes the path towards tho opposite jungles, disappearing into the fog-wrapped night. Gone, and I lie back nnd give way to a fit of ' cold shivers,' such as I have .never felt before, and for hall an hour I see nothing bub eyes—round, fierce, glaring greon eyes, wherever I turn my own.

Ho daybreak surely was over so long delayed us that we now anxiously wait for, bub it comes at length, and cramped and shivering I hastily examine the rifle. A j small but thick, fleshy leaf had found its way into the 'grip' action, and, crushed though it was, the stringy fibres refused to allowsthe close-fitting mechanism to work. The Karen, who is watching ins, murmurs in Burmese, ' witchcraft,' and after the night I have just passed through I am more than half inclined to agree with him. We dragged ourselves back to camp and at once organised a part to follow up the pugs, but our chase was useless. Wo neither saw nor heard anything of that tiger again during our stay. Curiously enough, only two weeks afterward information was brought to Easton that a Karen who had selected that identical rock to shoot sambhur from had been pounced upon and carried oif by a tiger as ho left Ilia hiding place just before daylight. Screams were heard by his brother, who occupied a safe position near, and on going to tho spot at sunrise he found the gun and bag belonging to his hapless relative on the sand. Tiger pugs and a few blood marks told the silent tale, and. not a vestige of the unfortunate man's body, or even of hia Clothing, was ever found by the friends who made search for his remains.

Easton's informant added with grave simplicity : ' The white face of your friend was new to the tiger ; on that account ho escaped.' My story is told. I have met tigers in various circumstances since, but of none have 1 so vivid a recollection as the one whose visit I have attempted to describe in this paper.