Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 August 1889 — IN A TIGER’S DEN. [ARTICLE]

IN A TIGER’S DEN.

Exciting Adventure of a Party of Hunters In a Chinese Wilder- j ness. A huge tiger was killed near Amoy j in March last, the hut being marked j by a number of exciting features, says a Shanghai (China) letter to the New York Herald. The hunting party consisted of Messrs Cullinson. Des Voeux, Harding, add Leyburn, and

and eight native hunters, the latter armed only with spears and* torches. They were out several days, beating many ravines unsuccessfully and finding only tracks and traces of tigers. Then they reached a place where Leyburn had shota tiger a year before, wounding him severely but failing to secure him. The following account by one Of the party refers to the same den in the rocks to which the wounded beast retreated: “It cleared up about breakfast time and we proceeded leisurely to the cars about 11 o’clock. Cullinson took •Allen's, rock,’ Des Voeux ‘Harding’s rock,’ and Leyburn and 1 placed ourselves near the ‘bridge entrance.’ The native hunters went in below the bridge. From'the marks they made out that a tiger had been laying down below the bridge, but had shifted higher up “After they had been in half an hour some of them came out much excited and said they had ‘cornered’ a big tiger. A few remained in the cave holding torches in the beast’s face while the rest carried in bundles of brushwood and gradually built him in. This ‘building in’ took a long time and consisted in closing up with brushwood all the holes by which the tiger could charge. “Then we were invited to waltz in and kill the beast I must say that I did not feel* bit inclined for this part of the program, but old Quartermain (Leyburn) was right on it and arter much discussion in we went. We went down into the cave from the bridge enterance by a ladder abont 12 feet long and we scrambled on, mostly on hands and knees, for about thirty yards, lighted by torenes. It was very wet and muddy and the atmosphere was stuffy and ill-smelling. "At last we got to where the tiger was built in and the first thing we saijy was the skull and bones of the old tiger Leyburn had killed at the .bridge entrance in January 1883, In front of us were two piles of brushwood closing the two holes, behind which was the live tiger. “Leybrun scrambled and was pushed up a bit of a slippery, sloping rock, and then one Of the hunters removed, a fagot and Leyburn found a big tiger with his head about five feet from bin* looking dazed at the glare of the torches. Ho aimed as well as he could by the uncertain light between his eyes and fired, knocking the beast down.

“The hunter instantly replaced the fagot and vve heard tho tiger roaring and scuffling about behind the brushwood. In a minufte or so all was quiet and we all waited and listened and could hear the breathing heavily. “We had to crouch behind the brushwood nearly an hour before the hunters .ventured to peep in over it. Then they began a c. utious investigation, removing a little brushwood, looking in -and —then quickly replacing the brushwood. At length they seemed satisfied that the tiger was not killed, but had gone on. They took down part of the brushwood and rushed in with torches and spears, we following afrwell as we could. “After moving about ten yards w* came up to two more holes or passages, and the men shouted that they could see the tiger. 1 was hoisted up on a nearly perpendicular rock and saw q yellow head about five feet below my right hand. I fired into the center of it, and as soon as the smoke cleared! the beast appeared about five feelj above my right hand, so I could nearly touch him with the barrels of my guns. He was close to a hole a little to my right, where Leyburn andQuilp(two Of the hunters) were standing. “I fired into his neck this time and dropped him, and he fell with his ear close to me, and as he still moved I fired into him right beyond the ear, finishing him off. “Leyburn’s shot had gone in above the nose, knocking his head about awfully, and my first shot had entered about three inches below the eye, and yet with these two awful wounds in the he id from bullets he had managed to move about “The atmosphere in the cave was by this time simply suffocating and we were glad enough to get out after being in there an hour and a half. All the men came out and had food before dragging the beast out He was q very heavy built tiger, measuring eight feet ten and a half inches as he lay, his skin two days after measuring eleven feet three inches. We had a (triumphal procession back to the boat (but managed to keep the natives off, and then began the grewsome operation of skinning.