Were These Birds
Rare In Their Native Country, And Unknown Alive In Europe, They
Would Assuredly Be Considered As The True Princes Of The
Feathered Tribes, And Altogether Unrivalled For Stateliness And
Beauty.
As it is, I suppose scarcely anyone if asked to fix upon
the most beautiful bird in the world would name the peacock, any
more than the Papuan savage or the Bugis trader would fix upon
the bird of paradise for the same honour.
Three days after my arrival at Wonosalem, my friend Mr. Ball came
to pay me a visit. He told me that two evenings before, a boy had
been killed and eaten by a tiger close to Modjo-agong. He was
riding on a cart drawn by bullocks, and was coming home about
dusk on the main road; and when not half a mile from the village
a tiger sprang upon him, carried him off into the jungle close
by, and devoured him. Next morning his remains were discovered,
consisting only of a few mangled bones. The Waidono had got
together about seven hundred men, and were in chase of the
animal, which, I afterwards heard, they found and killed. They
only use spears when in pursuit of a tiger in this way. They
surround a large tract of country, and draw gradually together
until the animal is enclosed in a compact ring of armed men. When
he sees there is no escape he generally makes a spring, and is
received on a dozen spears, and almost instantly stabbed to
death.
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