PUBLIC TIGER KILLING IN BATAVIA.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 845, 18 January 1883, Page 3

PUBLIC TIGER KILLING IN BATAVIA.

- Yesterday, July 2nd, says the Mata*am,.a newspaper at Djiojakatra, there ' took place here the announced clear- ' ance among the tigers belonging to His 1; Highness the, Sultan, in order to make , c - ' room for a fresh supply when the new Is.’l tiger peris will be built At about 10 ; ;km., the Sultan, the Resident Military -Commander, Assistant Resident, and X- T'other spectators appeared behind the ~ Kraton, and seated themselves in a : grand stand constructed for the purpose. Thousands of Javanese flocked to the spot to see the combats. Soon a fight between a royal tiger and a buffalo together in a pen was commenced, The tiger was several times tossed into the air and then gored to death by the buffalo, which had been made as furious as possible by peppered water, burning *. ■ nettles, and red-hot iron bars. - The ■!' combat lasted fully two hours. After--7 wards" began the rampoken, or tiger fight. ‘ On the plain alongside the Kraton stood Javanese armed with stout .-r spears fifteen to eighteen feet long, * J drawn up in rows one behind the other, farming altogether an extraordinarily .17 ’.large square. The two foremost rows lay - : kneeling, and the two hindmost stood ' erect. In the centre of this open space y were thirteen straw-roofed wooden pens, <i in each of which was a tiger. At a given signal a musical instrument dialled - the gamelan begins playing a martial air. to ..slow measure. Three tiger keepers then step out of the ranks and approach the cage. Two of them bear each a burning torch, with which they ; ' set fire to the straw. The tiger, ... brightened by the shower of sparks,) is ■ then forced out into the open space, ' - but knows not whither to turn. ; It, 1. roams about and seeks whether it can find an outlet, until it endeavors either by a desperate spring ta ; get ,aw4y oyer the human wall which keeps!it enclosed, or tries to creep through underneath. But it falls, pierced by many spears which have struck it. It utters a savage cry, which is drowned by the applause and shouts of the multitude. In silent

agony it, strikes around furiously with its mighty paws. The shafts of the ' spears-efted-'break like glass. In siich ji - cataesasingleblowmight cost the life aj f Ojf any unfortunate within reach of'its i /<laws. .It is afterwards killed in due " form. ■ ■ The scene took place in the ssame , way thirteen times successively with as many tigers, the festivity closing ' =at 2,'p.m.' ’ Only a few accidents oc- ‘ , jcurred. ; Ope soldier, by ilhluck, refceiyed a spear thrust when combating “T with a tiger, and; was severely wounded ™ in'the - leg,' A native received a bite when one of the tigers broke through the.scjdare, and ‘was' killed outside it, f r , jifter causing great commotion among ■/_, the spectators. ■ An affecting scene pre,ir seated was that .of. a large tigress bringv> ing- forth a cub while she was being