Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. XXIII.—April, 1852.—Vol. IV.: NoneVarious
General
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. XXIII.—April, 1852.—Vol. IV.: None
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Civilization -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals
My companion and myself placed ourselves with our guns on either side of
the stream, while the Indians with long bamboos felt for the animal. For
some time he refused to be disturbed, and we began to fear that he was
not within our limits, when a spiral motion of the water under the spot
where I was standing, led me to direct the natives to it, and the
creature slowly moved on the bottom toward the nets, which he no sooner
touched than he quietly turned back and proceeded up the stream. This
movement was several times repeated, till, having no rest in the
inclosure, he attempted to climb up the bank. On receiving a ball in the
body, he uttered a growl like that of an angry dog, and plunging into
the water crossed to the other side, where he was received with a
similar salutation, discharged directly into his mouth. Finding himself
attacked on every side, he renewed his attempts to ascend the banks; but
whatever part of him appeared was bored with bullets, and finding that
he was hunted, he forgot his own formidable means of attack, and sought
only safety from the troubles which surrounded him. A low spot which
separated the river from the lake, a little above the nets, was
unguarded, and we feared that he would succeed in escaping over it. It
was here necessary to stand firmly against him, and in several attempts
which he made to cross it, we turned him back with spears, bamboos, or
whatever came first to hand. He once seemed determined to force his way,
and foaming with rage, rushed with open jaws and gnashing his teeth with
a sound too ominous to be despised, appeared to have his full energies
aroused, when his career was stopped by a large bamboo thrust violently
into his mouth, which he ground to pieces, and the fingers of the holder
were so paralyzed that for some minutes he was incapable of resuming his
gun. The natives had now become so excited as to forget all prudence,
and the women and children of the little hamlet had come down to the
shore to share in the general enthusiasm. They crowded to the opening,
and were so unmindful of their danger that it was necessary to drive
them back with some violence. Had the monster known his own strength and
dared to have used it, he would have gone over that spot with a force
which no human power could have withstood, and would have crushed or
carried with him into the lake about the whole population of the place.
It is not strange that personal safety was forgotten in the excitement
of the scene. The tremendous brute, galled with wounds and repeated
defeat, tore his way through the foaming water, glancing from side to
side, in the vain attempt to avoid his foes; then rapidly plowing up the
stream he grounded on the shallows, and turned back frantic and
bewildered at his circumscribed position. At length, maddened with
suffering and desperate from continued persecution, he rushed furiously
to the mouth of the stream, burst through two of the nets, and I threw
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account