A HUNTER HUNTED.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVII, Issue I, 4 July 1896, Page 24

A HUNTER HUNTED.

I was lost. This appalling conviction was forced upon me as soon as I discovered that I was travelling in a circle. I was in a pitiable plight. The snn was hidden ; the trees were still dripping from a tropic downpour that had barely ceased. I was drenched, hnngry, bewildered, and in despair—almost, for I never quite give up. At last coming to a cliff which overhung a stream and gave some shelter, I sat down to think it over.

Beneath the cliff there was a cave, dry and qnite deep, which offered a retreat for the night, if it should chance that I could not reach home. Placing my gun far in out of the wet, I sat in the cave's mouth and abandoned myself to gloomy reflections. I was rudely aroused, however, by a sound quite near me, and looking up, I saw the animal which of all four-footed creatures, I dreaded most to meet at such a time and in such a place. It was a beast, short and sturdy in shape and dark in colour—a miniature hog, in fact. A peccary--! recognized him at a glance. I knew, too, that there were likely to be others not far away. Meanwhile he stood staring at me, as if to inquire by what right I had taken possession of his den. He did not even move when I rose and reached in for my gun, but spread his legs apart and shook his vicious-looking bead in a manner that indicated a determination to attack rather than retreat a single step. It was then very clear to me that I was occupying the entrance to his habitation, and that he was very anxious for me to get out of the way. He made several feints and lunges as if to pass me, and dodged about so rapidly that for a while I could get no good aim at a vulnerable spot in his tough, hairy hide. But at last as he halted a moment beneath the cliff, seemingly about to charge upon me, I gave him a load of coarse bird shot back of the fore shoulder. This, however, was worse than useless. It did not kill him, but merely infuriated him. He fell, to be sure, but with his snout toward the enemy, and gave utterance to such unearthly sounds that I was much alarmed. And with good reason; for either his horrid sqneals or the report of my gun caused a whole herd of peccaries to start up—they seemed to come right out of the ground. They became perfectly frenzied at sight of their wounded companion, and, after rubbing noses with him a moment or two, and inquiring, brute fashion, the cause of his trouble, they all made a dash at me. I now had both barrels of my gun loaded with larger shot, and let the ngly brutes have them, right and left, bowling over two of the largest. I then scrambled up the cliff as far as I could go. It was not very far—not far enongh, in fact, for they came after me pell-mell, tumbling over each other in their eagerness to avenge their friend. There was one old ‘ tusker,’ whose white teeth gleamed wickedly through his parted lips, and he led the charge, getting so near to me that one of my leggings was ripped up, and a small gash cut in one leg. A well-put kick in his jaws sent him tumbling down amongst the others, though he was instantly up again and at me, the fire fairly flashing from his eyes and his lips dripping foam. In the brief interval I bad drawn myself as far up as the narrow ledge I was on would permit; but this was only a few inches beyond the reach of the old boar in his desperate lunges, and even there I could only hold on with great difficulty. The cliff above me was very steep, and my foothold so precarious that I was in constant danger of falling ; but, projecting from a rent in the rocks not more than twenty feet away, I saw a large tree overhanging the bed of the stream. If only I could secure refuge in that tree ! There I should be safe, at least for the time ; hut the trouble was to get there without slipping and falling into the midst of that herd of savage pigs beneath me. Slinging my gun over my shoulder I began the perilous expriment. My motions, of course, attracted the attention of the herd, and they all dashed wildly at the rock, but the foremost fell short by nearly a foot despite his most frantic efforts. My feelings at that moment were indescribable; but I shut my eyes to the possibility of a fall and concentrated all my powers in my finger tip*, clinging to the wall of rock like a limpet and worming my way along inch by inch. My porcine guards below continued to inform me of their presence, grunting their disapproval of my flight and gnashing their teeth in expectation of a chance to whet them on my bones. I was keenly aware of their every motion, yet dared not look in their direction, but kept my eyes fixed upon a friendly lime which reached out toward me ; and this 1 finally grasped after what seemed to me an age of anxious expectation. Sate in the tree at last, I seated myself among a spongy mass of wildpines and dripping, broad leaved plants. It was not the pleasantest seat in the world, and I felt as Crusoe once said, that I had found a

* dreadful deliverance,’ though I had escaped immediate death. From its almost horizontal position, banging over the ravine, the tree gave me but little shelter, and I was exposed to the full force of the rain, which fell at intervals throughout the day. But I had chosen what seemed to me the lesser of the two evils, and must abide the consequences. The * evils ’ from which I had escaped now counted up to some twenty in number. They no longer seemed animated by any special fury, but they did seem to consider it their duty to await my descent, and there was something parti-

cularly discouraging in their attitude of sullen, dogged determination to stay right there till I eame down, whether it were next day or next week. No amount of shooting or shouting seemed to affect that determination, and so, after laying oat several of them with charges of the largest shot I had, I desisted from my attempts to drive them away, for I had not cartridges enough to exterminate the whole gang. So there they sat all day long, grimly watching. I pictured to myself the horrors of the situation, if they should per ist in the siege until fatigue or starvation should cause me to succumb, for I knew that they were capable of prolonged waitSS

ing, their nature being so vindictive that they eould stsy for days in order to gratify their rage. Even after it became so dark that I eould not distinguish their forma, 1 eould still bear them lunging at one another, keeping up their vengeful appetite by frequent quarrels among themselves.

I did not dare attempt to sleep, and to prevent myself from falling in case deep overcame me, I passed my waist belt around a perpendicular limb. Finally the moon came out of the clouds and looked down through the branches, but only succeeded in faintly lighting up the ground below, where the moving forms were converted

into veritable imps of darkness. How •lowly those night hours dragged along. It seemed as if daylight wonld never come, but at last it appeared, sweetly heralded by the twittering of birds, but greeted, too, with grunts ay my black jailers, who glanced up at me anxiously to assure themselves that I was still in evidence.

A new fear seized me as I tried to stretch my legs, for they were so stiff that there was an imminent danger of my falling if I should endeavour to escape from the tree. Darting pains, also, warned me of the dreaded fever, which would doubtless hold me in its grasp on the morrow. I was not very hungry, but ate the single biscuit that my haversack contained, and obtained a refreshing drink from a water liane that stretched across the tree. These water lianes are nature’s reservoirs for the benefit of the woodsman, the great vine, many feet in length, being filled with a clear liquid, held within its jointed sections. If yoa need a drink, you have only to cut off a joint, and there it is, pure and sweet, cool-drawn from the depths of the soil. As the sun rose above the tree tops its heat soon dried my clothes; yet still I sat there, cramped and weary, undecided what to do, but revolving many plans for escape. A sudden disturbance in* the herd beneath me drew my attention. The peccaries were all facing southwards, sniffing the air suspiciously, evidently startler!. Two or three of the old boars started out to reconnoitre. They returned in a few minutes with some information, apparently, that caused every member of the gang to gather himself on bis feet as if electrified. Eagerly turning my attention in the direction toward which they looked, I soon heard a faint noise like the barking of a dog ; and as this became more distinct the peccaries charged nervously hither and thither, grunting at each other in great alarm. A dog, of course, implied a master. I shouted and fired off my gun; and after a while came an answering human voice—the first I had heard in many weeks—but I could not distinguish the words. Soon after, the crashing of bushes and branches announced something approaching, and I shouted out a warning of the danger that might be incurred by advancing incautiously. My warning was not heeded, for there suddenly burst into view a man with several dogs, on the cliff above me.

The man, who saw the peccaries almost simultaneously with bis appearance, levelled his gun and fired. At the same time the dogs barked vociferously, and after a moment’s hesitation my enemies turned tail and scurried away. It must have been a dreadful disappointment to them, after their long vigil; but they didn’t wait for a farewell.

As the last one of them disappeared in the forest gloom, I realised that my deliverance had come, and tried to descend from my perch. This, however, I found impossible without the assistance of my deliverer, a negro, whose kindly black face was the most welcome thing I had seen in a long time. He made a fire and a cup of coffee for me while I was striving to regain the use of my limbs; and as soon as I was able to walk, guided me to bis camp, which we reached without further adventure.

Fred A. Ober.