“An expedition having been resolved upon, we surrounded,” says Dr. Morice, “the hill which served as a retreat for the monster. More than one hundred and fifty natives were present, shouting, gesticulating, and creating the most awful clamour which ever troubled a tiger’s siesta. As for us, the French inspector, a French soldier, and myself, we were in the plain, sprinkled with small mounded graves, which extends behind Tayninh, and waited in patience until it pleased the tiger to show his precious skin. It seemed to be his opinion that the boldest policy was the best; for in less than half an hour after we had drawn our noisy cordon he emerged from the wood, and advanced towards us. He was received with a rolling fire. Of our four balls one at least struck him, for he made a movement of pain, and turned towards the soldier who had accompanied us. That our movements might be more free, we had separated at some distance from one another. THE SOLDIER AND THE TIGER. The soldier immediately leaped upon a mound about three feet high, and with his loaded gun in his hand bided the wounded animal’s onset. A second ball from the inspector’s rifle hit him; but disregarding this new provocation, and yearning for his prey, he dashed towards the tumulus. With one bound he was at its foot, where he reared himself erect. Then took place a strange and lamentable scene, which showed how even the bravest lose their self-possession when face to face with these terrible beasts. That the soldier was a man of courage, numerous incidents had proved: it was he who had shown the most ardour in organizing the expedition; he had in his hand a first-rate rifle, and only the length of his arm apart was the white chest of the tiger, which seemed to await his death-dealing bullet. Well, for a few seconds he contented himself with striking the outstretched paws before him with the butt-end of his musket. The tiger extended his body, seized with one of his claws the unfortunate man’s leg, and began to drag him off.”
“A man touched by a tiger is a dead man,” says a German naturalist; “and it is useless to risk the life of another in an attempt to snatch from the cruel beast the mutilated victim whose sufferings will soon be terminated by death.” Such cold-blooded reasoning never prevails on the scene of action. Both the doctor and the inspector pursued the tiger as he still hauled along their comrade’s body; and two bullets, more fortunate than their predecessors, arrested his course for ever.
On examination, they found that their unfortunate companion had sustained a severe wound. Dr. Morice amputated his thigh in the hut to which he was transported; but, whether from loss of blood, which Europeans can ill afford in tropical latitudes, or from the violence of the shock to the nervous system, he died that same night.
VISIT TO THE MARKET-PLACE.
From this painful scene it is pleasant to turn to the market-place of Tayninh, with its various specimens of the human race. Cambodians are tolerably numerous; their comparatively tall stature, their dark skin, their thick and heavy lower jaw, their hair cut close like the bristles of a brush, and especially their air of passive savagery, give them an appearance totally different from that of the Annamites. The two races detest each other cordially. The Annamite, proud of his lighter complexion, of his more advanced civilization, to say nothing of the numerous defeats he has inflicted on his neighbour, looks upon him as little above the Moïs or wild people of the mountains. ANNAMITE AND CAMBODIAN. The Cambodians are savages, he says, whose nature is radically bad and vicious; they think nothing of law or order; they are stupid, and almost devoid of reason. On the other hand, the Cambodian, with his gloomier and more silent disposition, his deeper religious sentiment, regards with compassion the volatile Annamite. A cordial understanding between the two peoples will hardly ever be possible. The Cambodian, in spite of his somewhat coarse features, is more Hindu than Indo-Chinese; and both his language and his writing have affinities with those of the aboriginal inhabitants of the great Indian peninsula. He is the morose and untamable denizen of the hills and woods; while his neighbour is the sociable and light-humoured inhabitant of the plains. Unhappy is the Cambodian! Hemmed in between the Siamese on the one hand, and the Annamites on the other, who together have robbed him of his richest provinces; rendered stationary by the operation of a feudal law which prevents him from acquiring lands of his own,—a vigorous hand is needed to support him, and enable him to preserve his autonomy, while the ameliorating influences of European civilization are gradually brought to bear upon him.
THE CHINESE ELEMENT.
Such are the two races which occupy the provinces watered by the lower branches of the great Cambodian river. In the large towns and seaports is found a considerable admixture of the Chinese element. Trade and commerce are almost entirely in the hands of Chinese merchants, who, here as elsewhere, exhibit an extraordinary amount of patience, industry, and thrift; and, here as elsewhere, untiringly amass large and even enormous fortunes. They preserve their nationality unaffected by the conditions in which they are placed; always a people apart, and always as distinct from the races around them as are the Jews from the nations of Europe.