THE TWER. 



129 



" ( 'ampbrll alone, who had been drinking too much, was obstinately bent on going overboard, and 

 although we used every means in our power to persuade him to the contrary, he dashed into the water, 

 and had swum some distance from the vessel, when we on board discovered an alligator making 

 towai-ds him, behind a rock that stood a short distance from the shore. His escape I now considered 

 impossible, and I applied to Johnson to know how we should act, who, like myself, affirmed the 

 impossibility of saving him, and instantly seized on a loaded carbine, to shoot the poor fellow ere he 

 fell into the jaws of the monster. I did uot, however, consent to this, but waited with horror the 

 event ; yet, willing to do all in my power, I ordered the boat to be hoisted, and we fired two shots at 

 the approaching alligator, but without effect, for they glided over his scaly covering like hailstones on 

 a tiled penthouse, and the progress of the creature was by no means impeded. The report of the piec-e. 

 and the noise of the blacks from the sloop, soon made Campbell acquainted with his danger ; he saw 

 the creature making towards him, and with all the strength and skill he was master of he made for the 

 shore. And now the moment arrived in which a scene was exhibited beyond the power of my humble 

 pen perfectly to describe. On approaching within a very short distance of some canes and shrubs that 

 the bank, while closely pursued by the alligator, a ferocious tiger sprang towards him, at the 



A TIGER HUNT. 



instant the jaws of his first enemy were extended to devour him. At this awful moment Campbell 

 was preserved. The eager tiger, by overleaping, fell into the gripe of the alligator. A horrible conflict 

 then ensued. The water was coloured with the blood of the tiger, whose efforts to tear the scaly 

 covering of the alligator were unavailing, while the latter had also the advantage of keeping his mUer- 

 sary under water, by which the victory was presently obtained; for the tiger's death was now e.tleetrd. 

 They both sank to the bottom, and we saw no more of the alligator. Campbell was recovered, and 

 instantly conveyed on board ; he spoke not while in the boat, though his danger had completely 

 sobered him ; but the moment he leaped on the deck, he fell on his knees, and returned thanks to the 

 Providence that had so protected him ; and, what is most singular, from that moment to the time I am 

 now writing, he has never been seen the least intoxicated, nor has he been heard to utter a single oath." 

 The ravages of tigers in India have led to the adoption of various devices for their destruction, both 

 on the part of natives and Europeans. It may, however, be premised that while the skin of the tiger 

 has a value varying with the size, beauty, and diversity of the spots, every native who brings to the 

 eollertor or magistrate of the district a tiger's head and feet, receives a handsome reward. In former 

 times, availing themselves of the neglect of subordinates, instances occurred of the same head being 



VOL. II. 17 



