684 



Crrntfttrii nf Datura! 



niea of horror, regret, and fear, rushed at 

 once upon us. I fired on the Tiger : he 

 seemed agitated : my companion fired also, 

 and in a few minutes after this my unfortu- 

 nate friend came up to us, bathed in blood. 

 Every medical assistance was vain, and he 

 expired in the space of twenty-four hours, 

 having received such deep wounds from the 

 claws and teeth of the animal as rendered 

 his recovery hopeless. A large fire, consist- 

 ing of ten or twelve whole trees, was blazing 

 by us at the time this accident took place ; 

 and ten or more of the natives with us. The 

 human mind can scarce form any idea 

 of this scene of horror. We had hardly 

 pushed our boat from that accursed shore, 

 when the Tigress made her appearance, al- 

 most raging mad, and remained on the sand 

 all the while we continued in sight." 



The following narrative of the almost mi- 

 raculous escape of an European soldier from 

 the grasp of a Tiger is given by an officer 

 who some years since was in command of a 

 party in India, and may therefore be re- 

 garded as authentic : 



" It was after a long day's march of fifteen 

 miles, across a country where with difficulty 

 a road could be traced, and that made by 

 deep ravines cut by the rains, with here and 

 there upright stones, that we arrived at a 

 jungle unusually swampy, which, from its 

 size, and the fatigued state of the soldiers 

 and cattle, I thought it prudent to defer pass- 

 ing until the following morning, when, pro- 

 bably, we should fall in with an enemy about 

 three thousand strong, with several pieces of 

 cannon, under the command of Ally Newas 

 Khan, with whom we were not over anxious 

 to hazard an engagement, from the infe- 

 riority of our force ; which consisted only of 

 six hundred Europeans and two small field 

 pieces. 



" I had observed several flocks of wild pea- 

 cocks and turkeys while the tents were 

 pitching, which always frequent the same 

 dry heathy ground adjacent to jungles, that 

 tigers do ; but from our numbers, the com- 

 pactness of our encampment, and the pre- 

 caution I had taken to order fires to be 

 | kindled in various directions, I conceived 

 we had little to fear from any visit those 

 gentlemen might tliink proper to pay us. 

 I had but just entered my tent, and wrapped 

 I myself in my boat cloak, with a view to doze 

 away the remaining hour or two, before we 

 j broke up for another day's march to join 



General R y, when the report of a musket 



roused me. I instantly started to the en- 

 trance of my tent, and was questioning the 

 sentinel who stood there, as to the direction 

 of the sound, when a huge tiger, with mon- 

 strous bounds, passed within a few yards of 

 the spot where I was standing, with one of 

 our brave fellows struggling in his jaws. 

 My sentinel immediately fired at him ; but 

 the agitation of the moment prevented his 

 taking a deadly aim. The ball, to all ap- 

 pearance, struck him, from the enormous 

 bound he immediately made, but only to 

 increase his speed. We were, however, en- 

 abled to follow him, by some blood that now 

 fell from him, or his unhappy prey, and had 

 already entered the jungle several hundred 



yards, before we began to despair of finding 

 the latter alive, and of aiding his rescue. 

 Judge of our horror, on hearing on a sudden 

 a kind of sullen growl, or roar, which made 

 the hills echo a still more dreadful sound ; 

 and the next moment, of our joy, on being 

 greeted with a halloo from our lost com- 

 >anion, about fifty yards farther in the 

 _ungle than we had penetrated, which was 

 heartily returned by those who joined me 

 in the pursuit, and in a few moments more 

 we met him limping towards us, with as 

 joyous a face as ever I witnessed, even after 

 the most flattering success. 



The following account of his escape he 

 afterwards committed to paper: 'I was 

 just returning, at a good brisk pace, from 

 one of the posts down the jungle, where I 

 had been taking some victuals to my bed- 

 fellow, when I heard a kind of rustling noise 

 in some bushes, about six or seven yards 

 behind me ; and, before I could turn round 

 to ascertain the cause, I was pounced upon, 

 and knocked down with such force, as to 

 deprive me of my senses, till I arrived oppo- 

 site your tent ; when the sudden report of 

 a musket, together with a kind of twitching 

 in my thigh, brought me to myself, and to a 

 sense of the great danger in which I was ; 

 but, nevertheless, I did not despair. I now 

 began to think of some plan of saving my- 

 self ; and, though carried away very rapidly, 

 I felt, as well as saw, that your sentinel's 

 ball had, instead of hitting the Tiger, struck 

 me, and that I was losing blood very fast. 

 I remembered that the bayonet was in my 

 belt, and reflected, that if it was possible for 

 me to draw it, I might yet escape the horrible 

 death that awaited me. I with difficulty 

 put my arm back, and found it, and several 

 times attempted to draw it from its sheath ; 

 but, from my position, I was unable. To 

 describe the fears I now felt would be im- 

 possible ; I thought it was all over. At last, 

 thank Heaven I after another attempt with 

 my utmost force, I drew it out, and instantly 

 plunged it into his shoulder. He bounded 

 aside, and his eyes flashed frightfully ; he 

 let me down, but instantly seized me again 

 above the hip, which at first prevented me 

 from drawing my breath. I now had, from 

 the change of position, a fair opportunity of 

 killing the monster and saving my life. I 

 stabbed him behind the shoulder several 

 times as deeply as the bayonet would enter ; 

 he staggered, and fell, and again letting me 

 go, rolled several yards beyond me. I now 

 thought myself safe ; and was getting up, 

 whe_n he rose, and, with a dreadful roar, 

 again attempted to seize me, but again fell 

 down, and rolled close to my feet. I now 

 had the advantage of a fallen euemy, which 

 I forgot not to turn to the best account, and 

 again plunged my bayonet into his side, 



which I suppose, from his struggles, pierced 

 his heart. I then fell upon my knees, and 

 endeavoured, but from the fulness of my 



heart I was unable, to return thanks aloud 

 to Almighty God for his gracious goodness 

 in delivering me from so terrible a death. I 

 rose, and hallooed ; my halloo was returned, 

 and just afterwards I met you, or perhaps I 

 might have been lost from my weakness." 



