TENT LIFE IN TIGER LAND. (FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPDNDENT.) London, November 16.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 338, 30 January 1889, Page 3

TENT LIFE IN TIGER LAND. (FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPDNDENT. ) London, November 16.

( Twenty-four. Hours In. a- Wild-Boast . • . '?/■<; ..til 1 ' 11 * I**'1 **' ! "'i <». ' In the; Doddpore, -jungle^ a favourite .■fashion of entrapping. the wild beasts which ( < infest) .tlie 'district is ' to dig a -pit 4 01* well, with a 'sharp stake"drivd:n into the bottom, and » slight ' branched !or'' twigs cunningly wovea>'over.*the opening to -simulate the natural appieWance •of an ordinary ,junglepath. ■ A friend of Mr Ihglis's; a planter known as ' the jQeneraV had a Very narrowescape from death in one •of these pibs. The story shall be told >in 'the General's' own words. '. ; . \ ' - <■> I was hurrying along • a 'slight track, when, bang all at once, -doforn I' went into one of these concealed pits. The syce was close behind, mfc, and in falling T yelled out to him', ' ' Kufiberdar /" and probably saved him from the same fate that had overtaken myself. I went plop ! straight down into a deep dismal hole, and 1 at the bottom landed I right up to mv jvaisb in a deposit of tenacious blajrey mud. In fact, when I tried to sbruggle and free myself I found I was held as firmly as if I had been, birdlimed* ' I had 'been wearing riding-boots rather tight me, and struggle as I , might, I found'l was' prpperly planted,' and utterly powerless to free myself. Indeed, the more,. I', struggled -the firmor, I>. seemed ,to ,-.^eb^ ;'ptuck, -so never doubting buk tha£ -,^ibH the, assistance of *vay syce* SX\\Vb\\l<l*/&9i out all right, 1 called to him. 1 ; and l;6r*the first t:ime, with a, teeling akin to dismay, I discovered that there was no te^potfse. - The truth was that the syce, after seeing as 1 he" thought that I had dropped "in for a permanent ' billet,' seized the. opportunity and made straight back for the tent. I shuddered as I noted the dismal surroundings. There were soveral great gaunt- look ing yellowish green ! frogs peering at me with curious eyes ; and then as I turned my head around a little I made a discovery that made my very heart cease' beating for a minute, and sent every drop of blood in my body bounding back in my veins. There, right on a level .with- my face, its lengbh half concealed in a crevice in the crumbling sides cjf th 6 ! pit, its hood half expanded,' its forked tongue quivering as it; jerked it- out and in, and its eyes glittering with a baleful glare, I saw a great cobra. It was evidently half afraid, half angry » and did not know what to make of me. I could see it was a prisoner like myself, and it had -most probably been lured into the pit by hearing the croaking of the frogs, and in endeavouring to reach them, it 'must have • fallen in. I felb my heaib for the moment cease beating ; but I was petrified almost with the dread of my luckless position. I could not say 1 but what the brute' might ,at any moment make a dart i at me. I- felt übterly helpless and despairing, and for a moment my heart whispered to me' that my end had come. Then came a sort .of nervous recklessness.; T suppose it was ' the fury of despair ' we read about. I know I uttered a savage curse, and snatching my hard helmet, I hit the brute a smashing blow in the face, and began to fight for It was a big powerful snake. The blow had only maddened it. Its' hood expanded, its hissing filled thepib, and, swayirigand rearing its clammy* length, it launched' full at my face. My gun was- lying* choked up wibh dirt and half buried in the, "panic." but I had my hunbing ; knife~with'me, and while I parried' | the fierce darW Ot the infuriated brute with my helmet, I made quick stabs and slashes at it whenever I could get a chance ; and .after a short exciting struggle it succumbed, and tried. to .withdraw behind the crevice, but with a slice of my knife I nearly severed its head from its body. And then for a while — you may laugh at me or no, as you will — all was a blank. I must have fainted. The weary hours dragged along. It>vas in tensely still and sultry above, I conjectured for even in the -deep dank pit the air was stifling and oppressive, and I could not detect a sound or rustle in the vegetation that overhung the mouth of my' living tomb. Oh, man (said the General, here becoming quite pathetic),' it was an awful weary wait. Hour after hour passed, on. Again and again I tried to drag v inyself free, but I only exhausted myself in fruitless struggles. Then the monsoon came on, and, giving himself up for lost, ' the General' again became unconscious. When L came to myself it was barely light, it was still .raining heavily and stolidly, the big drops plashed down ; I could see a dull laden sky above, arfd I knew the nullahs and water courses would soon be full. The battle of the elements had ceased ; and but for the continuous crash of falling rain, all was still. The water in the pit was nearly up to my shouldei's. I felt 1 was doomed to die, and' sort of sullen, despairing stupor took pos-" session of me. I had now given up all, hope, when, hark ! I thought I heard, the sound of a human voice ! With all the .agony of despair I raised a cry for help, j There was an awful ,pause, and then I heard my faithful servant crying in response. Again I cried out, and I soon saw his dear olci wrinkled face peering down at me from the edge of the pic. Wibh much, difficulty he was liberated, after having remained in this "living tomb " for twenty four hours. Mr Inglis's book is full of similar stories, and is altogether one of the most exciting volumes of adventures with wild beasts which have appeared for some time.