TENT LIFE IN TIGER-LAND. "MAORIS" NEW BOOK OF ADVENTURE. SOME THRILLING EXCERPTS. (FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 334, 16 January 1889, Page 4

TENT LIFE IN TIGER-LAND. "MAORIS" NEW BOOK OF ADVENTURE. SOME THRILLING EXCERPTS. (FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT. )

London, November 16. Headers of the Hon. Jainet, Inglis'.s ("Maori's") book on New Zealand ("OutNew Zealand Cousins "), published spmo time bnclc, trill t;ike up with ploasiiro and lay down with astonish inont " Tont Life in Tiger land." A more exciting work ot spotting: adventures with bi&- game than this is I don't think I ovor cuino acvos&.

A Night Adventure With a lioopa d. Hove, ior example, is a story of a night adventure witli a leopard. Mr Inglis wat> camping out on tho border ot a ■junglo in North Bhangalpore. The camp was t>till and ho had gono to slcon. Suddenly 1 am auako, wide awake, although my eyes- still remain closed ; bub a nameless tenor tics me down to tho bod. The oil-lamp had gouo out, but. through tho open walls of the tent ,i bright moon bhone. It was almost us clear ay noon, ami tnere, right in the centrooi" the Lent, within two foot of m/ faco, stood a L-u-go fullgrown loopard. It was a magnificent animal. There was no sound &avo a subdued snore iiom some sleeping tenant. How the brute had crept in among tho sleeping dous and ben ants 1 no\ei: could divine. Hunger could not have been her moti\e. She stood silently in the middle of tho tont. Her keen eyes, plated right in mine. Her bupplo tail waved slowly from side to side, with a shot t .spasmodic twitch r,(j Mio cxlieino tip. as you may have been a cat's- do when lyinir on tho grass watching a bird. I could almost icul the brute's breath upon my face 1 was, as you can imagine, in " a moitai funk." At any moment the brute might spring upon me. As I gazed, the eyes seemed to contract and expand ; as I made an involuntary movement, tho fierce animal ictmctocl hut line, disclosing to my \ie*v the foitnidable fang & . How long I lay thus Ido not know. The Icopaid ne\er stiried .i slop. Theie she stood intently "laiiny into my httamed o\os. At length, to my uitui-u lolief, '-he turned slowly tound My auony ot mipense was becominir iutoloiablo. With a glance behind, which seemed plainly to say, "Lie still," she bounded lighil} o\ci the pro-trate te mi of a coolie lying huddled m his white cloth, and made lenuiely oil". Then with a yell in which all my pent-up breath found vent, J lousod the' aleepei .-•, and tiicd two tuple! shoes with m\ handy lovolver, ono of which 1 fancied took ollect l)ug& baiked. Seivants oticil out. I niched for my gun, and ju->t then tho leopard turned tound and niiive^ecl the agitated and alarmed camp. She stood out clear and distinct in the pearly moonlight. She certainly looked a pictuic. I took a clelibeiAtc aim, liied, and, my bullet taking her fair behind the thouldei, toppltd over without a lurch. She moasuted 7 feet 9 inche-s — one of the biggest and most handsomely marked animals I have ever shot

TLic Blacksmith and riio Bear. There was an English blacksmith, acei tain Billy Parrot, and a notable wrestler, who once in the author's experience had an opportunity oi putting his science to good .;. v,, ..l.vu 1^ »>no a^.-l.U r | 1,,, „ „., -„i r she- bear. She had a little cub, a wee beady-eyed round little ballot fur, hanging; like giim death to her back, and she came swittly with a lurching rolling; gait, and it began to look very awkward indeed tor Billy rarrol. 1 do not think she would have waited to attack either of u», but instinctively I pulled my revolver and firoil. The bullet took hei iair in the lowei ja.v\ , and made a terrible bplinteicd wound : and ttien, witli a savage growl of pain and wiath, .she rote up and inched stiaight at Billy, who seemingly hud been too bewildered to fly. The hob bieath of the inifm.atoci bear was now on hi-, cheek. He I made a leap, but his toot caught in a vine, and down lie went In an instant the •^.ivjge trrowling bruto was. on top ot him. V\'ell it "was foi Billy now (hut my shot, titter all, had caught the brute in the iuw. I am sony to s;sy billy w;i& not a pioufe yoiin« man : he was h wearing- mo=>t hombly, and leally, concern* d foi his satefcy as we v. eie, we could scarcely retain out gia\ity. The b&ai had got him in a In in hug, and was rolling over and o\or with him, giowling most savagely, and smotheiing him with the blood t.haL rushed liom his broken jaw. Billy's knowledge of the ttickb of the wrestling ring, and his g'eat bi length, heie now, however, btood him in good stead. Hi« strong little bandy lc}^v\fcie twined, with a, clutch like i\y, i omul the hind-quarters of the bear, keeping 1 it from tearing him with its hind clawb. He had got his left elbow right under the beai'a tlnoat, a favourite wrestling trick ot Billy's, keeping its mouth from his face, and with his light fist he wa.-. dealing the intimated brute sounding blows in the lace, the ribs, and over the snout, shouting like a madman all the while, and mingling Hindoo and marine oaths together in the oddeat and most laughable jumble imaginable. I never saw such a sight, and, imminent as was the danger to our poor iiiend, I fairly roaiecl with laughter. Thib seemfd to rouse Billy's ire woise than ever, and he becran to expend a fow of the \ ials of his wrath upon me. Ky this time the wliole of fhe pai ly, attracted by the noise, were coming to tho spot. The yowling £>ava«o was tearing at Billy's shoulder^, cutting deeply into the flesh, as we could sec. The cub had disappcaicd into the undergrowth. Billy was pomrnollinfj the bear, raining his blows with lustiest goodwill on the bleeding face of the maddened animal. Over and over they lolled They were now ten ibly near the edge of a dangeious kiwd or precipice. With a labh defiant whoop from Hilly, the interlocked combatants gave one lurch on tho giddy edge of the deep, rocky precipice, and, as we rushed to the verge, wo saw the black, jumbled mass bound from an overhanging, sharp-edged lecrgc of basalt, and rumbtingly disappear down the gloomy shaded depths of the chasm. A melancholy, moody, and silent party — wo began the sceep descent, each fearing the worst, and nob daring to hope that the poor fellow had e&eaped a cruel death. At last we got to the bottom of the deep lavine, and slowly, and struggling amid shattered, rocks, tenacious creepers, and prostrate forest tiees, began our search up the gloomy hollow. Suddenly, on the other side of the great opposing rock, we could distinctly hear, "Twanke diddle oh ! Twanke diddle oh ! Twanke diddle, iddle. iddle, oh !"' crooned softly. Wo leapt to our feet. "Hun ah!" we shouted; and then wo hurrahed and shouted, and leapt about again, and generally behaved as if we had all suddenly gone mad. Theie was no doubt about it ; Billy had escaped as by a miracle, and there he was, giving us his jolly old chorus, albeit ho gasped somewhat for breath and seemed to be rather thick in the wind. We soon gob over the rock. The natives Core a way through ohe creepers and ferns ; and we found Billy aliyo, bub sorely torn and bruised, sitting on iho mangled carcase of his late enemy, and, though very ) shaky and faint, yet still full of pluck.