INTERVIEW WITH A MANRATING TIGER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8354, 6 September 1890, Page 2 (Supplement)

INTERVIEW WITH A MANRATING TIGER.

While at Katamand, in the Nepaul district of India, with Captain White, the American tiger and serpent destroyer, a delegation came in from a village called Aliwar, thirty miles away, to get some of tho English officers to go out and destroy a man-eater who had rendered himself a terror to a largo district. Hearing of the presence of the American, they came to him instead. The Government bounty on the head of a man-eater at that time was £10. The villagers offered to make £10 additional, and to give tho captain a cow and four goats. In ten minutes he had closed a bargain, and on the afternoon of the second day wo reached Ali war. It was situated on tho Scindwala River, which is one of tho contributaries of tho Ganges, and within fifteen miles of the foothills of tho Himalaya Mountains. The country was badly broken and covered with heavy forest and jungle, and tho captain pronounced it tho finest tiger ranee in India. The village contained about 700 inhabitants, and had considerable commerce with points lower down on the stream. It was on the bank of the river strung out for half a mile, and tho cleared space thus occupied was not more than a quarter of a mile wide. A day's work on the part) of tho villagers would have been sufficient; to clear away the cover under which the tiger approached, buc not a move was made. Tho beast had appeared about four weeks previous, and the first intimation of his presence cost a woman her life. She was cooking at a tiro on th« north side of the village, not over ton feet from the door at which her husband and three children sat, when a tiger, who had come out of the ravine and kept the cover of »omo bushes, sprang upon her. This was just at sundown." The spring of tho tiger knocked the woman into the fire. He seized her by the foot and drew her out, and, although her clothing was on fire, he took hold of her shoulder, gave her body a twist to throw the weight on his back, and was off at a run. The woman must have been killed by the blow of his paw as he prang, as she made no cry. In tho four weeks which had elapsed yince the man-eater appeared he had carried ,)tT seven people, and for a distance of ten miles around the peoplo were in great terror. Thero wero half a dozen old muskets owned in Aliwar, and these had been loaded and discharged at the ravine at eh noon in hopes to scare the tiger i away" Two nights previous to our arrival tho tirrer had entered a hut through an open window, seized a boy 10 years of age, and mad» his «xit by the door. The cries of th- boy awoke everyone in the village and "ouki b»> heard a long way up the ravine. He had not come the night before, but was expected to show up on this the night of our arrival. We reached the place about two hours boforc sundown, and as Mx>n as the captain got the lay of the land h*> made his plans. Two huts on the northern «dge of the village were abandoned to »is. The captain and one of his men took one, and a second native and myself occupied the other. All had guns, and the plan was to watch for the tiger and pot him. hut I occupied belonged to a storage merchant. It was a solid building, mad« of small logs and a heavy thatch roof. Th" ground floor, which was the only one, occupied a space of about 16 by .24 feet. It had one door and two windows. The door and one window were in front and the other window at the rear. Sixteen feet from the door a bamboo partition ran across the room. In this rear room goods belonging to various parties were stowed at a fixed charge, while the family occupied the front room as a living room. The door in the partition slid up and down in grooves. When wo began our watch we fastened the door securely. The window beside it Wits an opening about two feet square, protend only by a cloth curtain. The one at the rear had a wooden blind, and this was fastened on the outside.

It. was a hot; and sultry night, and we had a jar of water and brandy in the storeroom. The front window commanded a good view of the country over which the tiger was expected to approach, and for two hours I peered and listened and waited, but without reward. The native was .stretched out on the floor and sound asleep. Weary with standing on my feet, and my throat very dry for the want of moisture, I quietly aroused my companion and told him to watch while I refreshed myself. 1 was behind the partition drinking from the jar when the native uttered a low cry of alarm and bounded in upon me and shut down the door. I had the jar yet in my hands when a heavy body dropped to the floor, and I heard the snarl and saw the form of a tiger in the hut. This was what had happened The tiger had approached the house from the opposite direction, and creeping softly around had sprung for the opening and into the native's face. In his alarm the man had started back and dropped his gun, while mine was leaning against the door. He had shut the partition door, however, and that saved us. There we were, face to face with a full-grown man-eater, with only a bamboo partition between us and his fangs, and I am frank to say that for a moment I was completely done for. The native flung himself down on his face without a word, and I knew that neither suggestions or aid could be expected from him. It was a starlight night, but the small opening in the wall of the hut made the room pretty dark. I could just make out the outlines of the tiger as he moved to and fro, while his eyes, were like two small lanterns. There was no floor in the hut, the ground being beaten hard instead, but I could feel a sort of jar as the tiger moved about. He made a thorough inspection of everything in the front room, and then turned his attention to me. My revolver was in my baggage, and so I was entirely destitute of weapons. I had seen the native wearing a long knife during the day, and I called to him to know if he had it •with him. He was crying with fear, and ■would not answer me. I went over to him and found the knife in a sheath at his belt, and when I had it in my hand my courage came back in a moment. About that time the tiger had discovered that the only victims in the cabin were behind the partition, and ho sounded against it right opposite me with a force that made everything crack Left to himself he would have knocked it down in short order, but 1 was there to interfere. 1 hacked him with

the knife, and from the way he snarled and Bpit I knew that I had cut him. He withdrew to the far end of the room, growling menacingly, and I could hear him lick the blood which the knife had drawn.

The general situation was far from pleasant. By knocking on the rear shutter and calling out I could make Captain White understand how matters were, but on second thought I felt that it would be to his risk. The tiger might go out at the opening any moment, and if he encountered anyone outside a tragedy was certain. To alarm the village was to bring about the same thing. Even if I could get out of the rear window by forcing open tho shutter the tiger had only to go out of the window at the same time to pick me up. 1 felt that I was a pretty fair match for him with the knife in my hand, and, hoping that he would give up and leap out of tho window after receiving another cut, I decided to wait. I could just make him out as he lay on the floor near tho door, and I was standing close to the partition when he suddenly uttered a roar of anger and charged. He struck the sliding door with a great smash, and his right foropaw struck at me through one of tho openings. I hacked at it and gave him a severe cut in the leg. This time he sent up such a dreadful roar of pain and rage that half tho village was aroused by the noise. He drew back and ran along the partition, probably hoping to find a weak spot, and three several times he reared up on his hind legs, seized the bamboos in his teeth, and shook them as you have seen a dog worry nt a root when digging at the hole of some wild animal. Then he bounded towards the front and Bought to go out of the window, but stuck in the opening, snarling and growling, and finally dropped back. He tried this three times and then gave up. As we afterward discovered, there was a huge Bliver on the log at the top of tho opening. This pointed inward. As the tiger crowded his bulk into the opening he pressed this sliver „up against tho log. When he undertook to go out the sliver diminished the size of the opening and stuck in his back like a dagger. The uproar he made alarmed Captain White, and ho called out to know what was the matter. The tiger is in tho front room and can't get out!" I answered. " Why don't you shoot him ?" "The guns are in the room with him,"

When I had fairly explained the situation he advised that I bo on my guard and ready to use the knife, and that it would not be safe to make any new move until we had daylight to aid us. I did not know at that time that the tiger could not get out where he came in, or I could have forced the rear shutters and escaped from the hut. The beast slunk into a corner and lay thore for a time, whining and growling. Then ho tried the opening again, and, when he found himself a prisoner, he sat up on end and howled with fear. I believe I could have than driven him about with ft stick. As the tiger lost his ferocity the native with mo regained his courage, and by-and bye he got up and found a heavy stick among the bales of goods, and stood ready to assist me in beating off any now attack. While the entire village was awake no 0110 moved out <!f his house, and all waited for the coming daylight. At intervals of fifteen minutes Captain White sang out to us to know if we were all right, and about an hour before daylight he warned ma that the boast would no doubt fly into a fury with tho first signs of day. From midnight to 2 o'clock the tiger was not quiet over five minutes at a time. Ho would sit and snarl and whine and lick his wouuded paws for a time, and then go circling around tho room and crowling in a way to make me shiver. As lie passed along the partition, rubbing his head against it, his eyes had a glint in them which haunted me for months afterward. Upon the approach of daybreak the man-eater began to grow moro restless. It was time for him to bo off to his lair, but ho was a prisoner. Just as tho first faint light came he tried the window again, and his efforts to get out were so determined that I thought he would succeed. When he finally drew back he was ripe for mischief. We could make him out plainly now, and as he drew back to the floor the native gasped out "By my life, sahib, he is the largest tiger in all India !" I thought so toe, and subsequent measurements astonished everybody. In most cases the man-eater is an old beast, with most of his teeth gone. The tiger was full-grown, not over five years old, and every tooth was perfect. When he dropped to the floor he spit like a mad cat, wheeled with a snarl, and at his second jump he struck the partition like a battering ram. Ho not only struck it, but ho stood on his hind legs and pulled and shook, and it must have gone down had we not attacked him. The native dealt one of his paws a terrific blow with the stick, and I cut half through the other with the blow of the knife. The beast let go and fell back. It was now broad day, and we could see him plainly. A photograph of his head and face would make a woman shiver. He backed off, laid his ears flat to his head, showed every tooth, and his eyes wandered up and down the partition looking tor a weak spot. I expected a rush, but lie was not quite ready. He made three circles of the room, and then, springing like a flash, he fastened to the bamboos again. If we had not been ready tho partition could not have held him more than a minute. He used teeth and claws, and the whole hut was shaken with his exertions. I got in a savage cut on his hind leg, and stabbed him in the shoulder, and the native hit him an awful whack on the nose. When he let go this time ho was done for. He retreated to a corner and howled and whined like a puppy, and Captain White now called out to know the situation. I explained that the tiger could not get out, as I could now see the sliver which obstructed, and he opened the rear shutter and passed me in a rifle. When I took aim at ths tiger's head he was moaning and shivering and whimpering, and I almost felt ashamed to shoot him.

Not knowing whether the fiend man-eater had a mate or not, we scoured the jungles for his lair, and found it in the ravine not more than half a mile away. He had not devoured any of his victims at the spot where he rested, but all had been eaten within a radius of a few rods. FrOm what we could discover it was concluded that he was a " solitary," and as the village suffered no more this must have been the cafe. In removing the skin we found a spot on the shoulder where the beast had been severely cut with a knife. The slash was fully four inches long and quite deep, and the hair had not grown over to cover the scar. Ninety-nine chances out of a hundred the native who had inflicted the cut had been eaten.—American paper.