THRILLING HUNTING EXPERIENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 193, 14 August 1909, Page 16

THRILLING HUNTING EXPERIENCE.

WAITING TO BE EATEN BY A JAGUAR. One of the most ferocious of wild animals Is the Jaguar, the tiger of the Western Hemisphere, whose exploits in raiding cattle and filling peasants with terror almost equal those of his Oriental cousin. Lewis R. Freeman, of Pasadena, Cal., U.S.A., a globe-trotter and hunter, who has had many Intimate experiences with the Mexican tiger, and once was forced to au unpleasant speculation as to whether o jaguar was going to eat him feet first or head first—hoping thnt the beast woul'l kindly begin at the head—relates the following story of his adventure In the "New York Tribune":— "It was lv the Verde Creek Canyon of Mount San Pedro, Baja California, in the spring of the year. The Mexican cook hart deserted n week before, and my companions were off on a three-day mountain sheep hunt leaving mc with a stiff knee alone In the camp. "Late one afternoon the air became close and stuffy, the breeze died out, and greit black clouds came wheeling down from the summit of San Pedro. Soon the thunder began to roll and rumble among the crags and echo with deep reverberations through' the canyon, while the lightning flashed with vivid glare and shot In zigzag lines from cilff to cliff. At this Juncture It suddenly occurred to mc that lightning always struck the tallest trees, and, grabbing my arms full of blankets, I rushed out into the rain, Dot stopping until I was Jd a clear space, well beyond the range of the big pine. Then I rolled up In the blankets -there must have been eight or ten in all—one after the other, making a big, half-soaked bundle, almost as high as It was long.

"In half an hour the rnln ceased and the heavens began to clear, but the thunder and lightning were still busy, and I was afraid to trust myself under the trre. 1 was just getting ready to unroll, however, congratulating myself on not being wet through, when out of the darkness beyond the end of the blankets came an ear-spllttlng yell.

"Twice more sounded the cry, and twi'-c more I refused to listen to i(s call. It

feemed to be coming nearer, though 1 would have sworn that It had Its nose under my feet -wheu It yelled the tirst time. Again the shriek: this time so near that I though; the blankets vibrated in sympathy, a moment later discovering, however, that my knees were responsible for the latter phenomenon. Then for several minutes 1 waited and trembled. I wondered if he would be glu at my feet and eat mc up by inches, or mercifully kill mc at once by beginning ar my head. At last, my ears, strained to catch the slightest sound, detected his step; as the cushioned feet, one after the other, were drawn from the sticky mud. Then be crept Into my range of vision. 'Thank Heaven, it will be the head!' I thought, and waited for him to begin. 1 could scarcely make out the outline of bis body, so thai the fiery, vitreous eyes seemed moving all alone. Now they passed behind mc and out of range of my vision, but still the spring was not made. Now they gleamed on my right, still moving around the bundle In a circle. Now they disappeared beyond my horlzon of blanket, and I realised that, aftei all. the worst was to happen. I was to he eaten from the feet upward. Then the over, wrought nerves gave way and the whole chestful of air 1 had been holding for so long went ripping out • through my reuse vocal cords in. O-eJwild yell. '.' '-"-. -'-

"As If in answer to my cry I heard someone, breaking through the undcr-brusb atop speed, and my heart beat high Willi hope. Then I perceived that the sounds were retreating. My preserver ha.l seen the jaguar and turned back. All I felt in the next ten minutes is beyond words to describe, but at length, reassured by the silence, I rolled out of the blankets to find myself alone. The Jaguar had evidently no Idea that the funny looking bundle contained a man, and must have lied at the sound of my voice. The beast certainly missed the chance of Its life, for I doubt very inner If a young, fairly fat and altogether eatable mar. was ever laid out quite so helplessly under the nose of a hungry jaguar. "On the -western slopes of the Sierra Madre mountains, and, in fact, everywhere In Mexico where the Jngu.ar makes Its lair within striking distance of a settle,i country, he feeds principally upon slock killed and carried oIT from tbe foothill estaucias and ranchos. BEATS BULL IN A CHINA SHOP. "Once I wns In Los Prletns for a week on business, and, having a couple of days to spare, went off into the hills with an English fricntl after quail, putting up a: one of the poultry ranehcrias. On the nigh' of our arrival, Just arter the lights had been put out In 1 ho house, we heard the family dog. n nondescript .-or. cine whim pcrlng into Hie patio, and scratch at thdoor for admittance. A moment biter there came a bump aud a crash from the chicken coop, and then n bedlam of squawks and cackles, rising above the sound of two hundred pairs of wings beating against the sides and roof of the little building. S and I were still dressed, and. picking up on.shotguns, burst from the door, closely fo:. lowed by the old ranchero. holding his gun. The moon was more than three-quarters full, and shone brightly, revealing at once a pal ing ripped from the side of the coop that opened into the wire-fenced j'ard. As w : rushed up to the fence, out of this openli.g shot a long, yellowish body, and, wlthou'. seeming to touch the ground, tlew full in. the side of tbe doubly staked and braced wire netting. The latter threw the anlm.il off like a catapult, and it darted back Into the screaming din of the coop, where we heard It land with a thump against the further side. Out It came again, apparently wild with terror, and this time I gave It both barrels of No. 0 through the wire. Rangl Hang! boomed the old ranchero's gun behind mc, and bang! bang! and again hang! exhausted the half-tilled magazine of S s 'pump gun'—seven charges of birdshot lv all, tired nt under ten feet. Once more the gleam of black and yellow dashed against the wire, and once more it was

sent sprawling. Then it came straight at us, and we all three beat a hasty retreac while it flattened Itself against the wire, biting and clawing desperately at the unyielding mesh. Suddenly the fiery eyes caught sight of the top of the ben-coop, and It dropped back to the ground, crouched for a moment, and then went sailing—no other word quite does justice to that easy leap — off, and out, back to the mountains.

"There was a big hunt the uext day. In which the whole countryside joined, but the midnight marauder was never again sighted. Why the shot, while it was In the poultry yard, small as it was, did no: have more effect at the close range I am at a loss to understand, unless it was that most of It, owing to our excitement, went wild. About thirty chickens were killed during the brief space of time that the jaguar was In the coop.

"Scientists have declared that the wonderful agility of the members of the cat family Is due to the unusual length and fineness of the fibres of the muscles, In both of which particulars they are said Infinitely to surpass men and other animals. '