Tiger Shooting near Saigon.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 931, 3 January 1890, Page 8

Tiger Shooting near Saigon.

On the 13th of April, my coolie brought me word that one of my baits, a buffalo, had been killed ; so I mounted my pony at once and galloped out a distance of about four miles to inspect. I found the buffalo had been killed in a dried-up watercourse,, apparently by two tigers, one, judging from the size of his pugs, a very large beast.

' Some natives who lived near, said that, from the noise they heard, , the buffalo must have been attacked at 4 a.m., just after the moon went down. On inspection I found that one of the hind legs had been broken, and tho other showed claw marks, and a large piece had been eaten from the centre of the back, leaving the backbone exposed for about two inches ; but I could not find any mark elsewhere. My coolie assured me that the animal was alive when he took his round of inspection at six o’clock.

I selected a good tree, and had a -machan made some twenty yards from the dead buffalo, at about twenty feet from the ground. At 4 p.m I rr tinned to watch with my coolie, he having an ordinary 12-bore central-fire, by W. Richards, Loudon, loaded with ball, and I a double barrel Express rifle. Nothing, however, came down, with the exception of a couple of wild boars, which of course we did not fire at, and all night I only heard one tiger roar. Probably the animals had gorged .themselves the previous night; so, somewhat disgusted, I returned to the Cape, and at 4 p.m, set out again. I found the coolie at the machan, and by five o’clock we were all attention.

There was thick jungle, bamboo and long grass, all round us, and we had not very long to wait, for at 7 p.m a tiger approached very cautiously, but only showed himself for a moment, when he either heard, smelt, or saw us, and away he went. After waiting three hours another came down the hill in front of us, making a great fuss, roaring and growling at every step, evidently very hungry; but, although he came to the edge of the bamboo, he never ventured out all night. I could hear him softly treading down the dried grass for two hours, apparently walking backwards and forwards. At midnight, when the coolie was fast asleep, and my own patience nearly worn out, I was brought to my senses by a well-known growl and the noise of crunching of bones. 1 took a peep, and by the light of the moon I saw a magnificent tiger clawing and tearing the hindquarters of the buffalo. He was lying full length, when, all of a sudden he sat up, and in doing so puffed the buffalo fully a yard; this he repeated several times. My first intention was to wake the coolie, but found this no easy matter ; however, after Borne interval I managed to do so, without being heard by the tiger, and to get him into position. Our signal to fire was to have been ‘ Un, deux, trois,’ and tho ‘ trois’ we were to fire together. All of a sudden Stripes appeared suspicious, and presented a lovely shoulder and side to me. I could bear it no longer, so took a steady aim, and fired with my right-haud barrel ; the coolie was too lata, my smoke cleared away before he tired, and just between the shots I caught another glimpse of the tiger disappearing. We could hear him for some ten seconds, and then all was quiet; not a groan or roar of any kind did he make, and I certainly came to the conclusion, that, if such aehanceasthis had slipped me, I must give up machaos andtiger shooting, andstick to pig and deer. However, a peg of whisky and a pipe put me in better spirits, and after firing off five chombers of my revolver into the bamboo, without any sound coming from there, I fell into such a sleeD as hard rough sticks would allow, to while away the hours till daylight. At 5.30 a.m we descended to have a look round, and discovered that the tiger was the one with the big pugs. Within four yards of the buffalo were large traces of blood, and I was in high spirits ; but the coolie persisted that I had only wounded the tiger’s foot. At the edge of the bamboo there were maria where the tiger had fallen ; but enter we dared not, the jungle was far too thick, and the grass would not burn on account of a heavy dew. I now ordered the coolie to return to the Cape, and bring out a dozen coolies at 3 p.m ; and my pony having arrived, I rode home, accompanied by a conple of friends who had come out to meet me. At 2 p.m, five of us slarted for a beat, and on nearing the place at three o’clock, the coolies, who had just started the search, commenced firing in rapid succession. ‘ Hurrah !’ we shouted, ‘the tiger must be wounded !’ The ponies were left to lookafter themselves, and we rushedfinto thebush, to find, within thirty yards of the buffalo, a splendid tiger; dead, and stiffs with a hole aa-large as: a penny made kjzr I my Express bullet-, straight for the heart! lie nius t hays died at onoe. *One of the coolies in hia ‘excitement fired buckshot at him as he lay dead, but, with tho exception of this, there was not a mark on him. Twelve coolies carried him home, and we rode before and behind in great glee. By the time we had arrived at our quarters —the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company—the whole village had collected to have a ‘look see.’ We hung

the tiger upon a tree in our compound, where he looked very fine, and I received congratulation from the few Frenchmen and fewer Englishmen who reside here, and also the promise of the Government reward of 25d015. The animal measured 9ft Gin from nose to lip of tail. A champagne dinner ended my first experience of killing a tiger. Cap St. Jacques, near Saigon, Cochin China. P. H. SeIFR.

P.S.—I understand this is the first tiger killed by a European at the Cape for ten years. One was shot three years ago by Annamites,