Part 13 (2/2)
All my preparations had been made beforehand; relays of bullocks were posted for me at convenient intervals, and I arrived at Goodaloor, a distance of a hundred and ten ht hours
Goodaloor is a quiet little village, about elevento spend my precious three weeks there
All loaded, and pony saddled, let us start: the thite cows and their calves; the mattress and blanket rolled up and carried on a Cooly's head shi+karee, horsekeeper, and a villageup the rear Over a few ploughed fields, and past that large banian tree, the jungle begins
In a s bank of a broad, sandy watercourse, the casual passer-by would not have perceived a snug and tolerably strong little hut--the white ends of the small branches that were laid over it, and thethe fact to the observant eye of a practiced wood to bestow on the faithful shi+karee; had I chosen the spot myself, after a weeks' survey of the country, it could not have been more happily selected
To the deeply-rooted stu tree on the opposite bank, one of the white cows had been made fast by a double cord passed twice around her horns Nothing remains to be done: the little door is fastened behind ainst it on the outside, and my people are anxious to be off
The poor cow, too, listens with dis footsteps of the party, and has already es to free herself, and rejoin the rest of the kine, who have been driven off, nothing loth, toward ho the path by which the people have deserted her Were it not for the occasional sta, or the i flies, she aze up the bed of the nullah, and into the thick fringe of Mimoso, one ear pricked and the other back alternately, show that _instinct_ has already whispered the warning of iet loose, and a searching gaze up the path; see her sides heave Now co the hills: another and another Poor wretch! you are hastening your dooer hears you--under the rock or thicket, where he has lain sincesun, his ears flutter as if they were tickled every tireen eyes, heretofore half closed, are noide open, and, alas!
poor cow, gaze truly enough in thy direction; but he has not stirred yet, and nobody can say in what direction giant death will yet stalk forth
The s, is restless, and evidently frightened Oh! reader, even if you have the soul of a shi+karee, I despair of being able to convey in words a tithe of the sensations of that solitary vigil: a night like that is to be enjoyed but seldom--a red-letter day in one's existence
Where is the man who has never experienced the poetic influence of a ht scene! Fancy, then, such a one as here described; a crescent of low hills--craggy, steep, and thickly wooded--around you, on three sides, and above theain, at twenty herry hills; in your front, the silver sand bed of the dry watercourse divides the thick and soht, till you lose it in the deep shadows at the foot of the hills--all quiet, all still, all bathed in the light of the moon, yourself the only man for miles to come, a solitary watcher--your only companion the poor coho, full of fears, and suspicious at every leaf-fall, rele is about to take place within a few feet of your bed, and that there will be noise and confusion, when you must be cool and collected Your little kennel would not be strong enough to resist a deteruns are not true friends
Oh! that I could express sounds on paper as music is written in notes
No, reader, you must do as I have done--you must be placed in a siry tiger--not from afar off, and listened for, but close at hand, and unexpected It was like an electric shock;--asince laid down, appeared asleep; that one roar had not died away as, and stood with elevated head, stiffened li, full of terror, in the direction of the sound As for the biped, with less noise, and even rasped his ”Sae of the little peep-hole; perhaps his eyes were as round as saucers, and heart beating fast and strong
Now for the struggle;--pray heaven that I am cool and calm, and do not fire in a hurry, for one shot will either lose or secure ain! evidently in that rugged, stony watercourse, which runs parallel, and about two hundred yards behind the hut But what is that? Yes, lightning: two flashes in quick succession, and a cold streah the half-withered leaves of h an accidental opening a the leaves, it was plain that a stor An arch of black cloud was approaching froave it the appearance of a huge black co to the earth The moon, half obscured, showed a white mist as far as the rain had reached Then was heard in the puffs of air, the hissing of the distant but approaching downpour: e heavy drops plashed on the roof, and it was raining cats and dogs
How the scene was changed! Half an hour ago, solemn, and still, and wild, as nature rested, unpolluted, undefaced, unht of the moon, all was tranquillity; the civilized ot nation, pursuits, creed--he felt that he was Nature's child, and adored the God of Nature
But the beautiful was now exchanged for the sublime, when that scene appeared lit up suddenly and awfully by lightning, which now ht, with a darkness horrible to endure--a light which showed the many streams of water, which now appeared like ribbons over the save a ed as suddenly for a darkness, which for the ht be supposed the darkness of extinction--of utter annihilation--while the crash of thunder over head rolled over the echoes of the hills, ”I ath over, the nullah run dry again Damp and sleepy, with arms folded and eyes sometimes open, but often shut, I kept an indifferent watch, when the cow, struggling on her legs, and a groan, brought er, holding her just behind the ears, shaking her like a fighting dog By the doubtful light of the watery moon, did I calmly and noiselessly run out the rip of the cow's neck, leap over her back ain
At the first opportunity, I pulled trigger The left hand !
Whether a hanging fire is an excuse or not, the tiger relinquished his hold and was off with a bound The cow staggered and struggled, and, in few seconds, fell, and, with a heavy groan, ceased to er had killed the coithin a few feet of ht did I watch for his return I had alht, about eleven o'clock,the rocks, and then the distant roar--nearer--nearer--nearer; and--oh, joy!--answered Tiger and tigress!--above all hope!--cos--to balance a long account of weary nights in the silent jungle, in platforms on trees, in huts of leaf and brae--all bootless; co--nearer and nearer
Music nor words, dear reader, can stand me in any stead to convey the sound to you; the first note like the trumpet of a peacock, and the rest the deepest toned thunder Stones and gravel rattled just behind the hut on the path by which we came, and went, and a heavy step passed and descended the slope into the nullah I heard the sand crunching under his weight before I dared to look A little peep Oh, heavens! loo, sleek as satin, and lashi+ng his tail--he stood stationary, s tiger, I felt hoful a brute he was to offend I re cow in half a ht alone, my poor rickety little citadel would fall to pieces As if the excite down the dry watercourse, caught sight of his co up the bed of the nullah, stood irresolutely about twenty yards off The bully, as evidently theat the head, ca--”hu,” and to it he went tooth and nail
As he stood with his two fore feet on the haunch, while he tugged and tore out a beef-steak, I once rasped old ”Sam Nock,” and ran the muzzle out of the little port The white linen band marked a line behind his shoulders, and rather low, but, from the continued er agreed to pull trigger--bang! A shower of sand rattled on the dry leaves, and a roar of rage and pain satisfiedin the still air, had cleared away, to show the hugewhere he had fallen Either directed by the fire, or by soitation of the moment, he sawthunder of his voice filled the valley, and the echoes as of tribes of hest branches, at the sound of the well-known voice of the tyrant of the jungle I ireat joy, that his hind quarters were paralyzed and useless, and that all danger was out of the question He sank down again on his elbows, and as he rested his noerless li out of a wound in the loins, as it shone in the lobules of quicksilver As I looked into his countenance, I saw all the devil alive there The will reht never to be forgotten With head raised to the full stretch of his neck, he glared at nity, that it alht of the native superstition of singeing off the whiskers of the newly killed tiger to lay his spirit, and no longer wondered at it With ears back, and rowled and roared in fitful uncertainty, as if he were trying, but unable, to measure the extent of the force that had laid him low
Motionless et on his legs, he continued to gaze on ain pulled trigger This time, true to the mark, the ball entered just above the breastbone, and the sroan There he lay, foot to foot with his victiht, motionless--dead My first ih view of his proportions; but reress, had vanished only a short tiht it as well to re the ithlook, and then jovially attacked the coffee without reference to noise, and fell back on the ht's work over ”At last, I have got hi before the tent door” When , they found er Coolies were sent for to carry the beast, and I gave the pony his reins all the way back to the tent
FRASER'S MAGAZINE