Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-08-30
MISCELLANEOUS.
A DAY WITH 4 LION.


A DAY WITH 4 LION.
MANY years ago, while residing at the
Cane, became acquainted with several
ofthose snterprising traders who are en-
RaGed Ia the lucrative but rather hazard.
Gus traffic with the natives north Of the
Orange river.
One of the b0ldest and most successful
of these adventurous traders was q Mr..
Hutton, . respectable English colonist,
who had accumulated small fortune by
his excursions among the Namaquas and
the Danmaras, and was talking Of retir.
ing from the business. had heard OF
him not only az lucky dealer and dar.
ing hunter. but also a. beipg one of the
most intelligent explorers Of South Africa;
and, having been able on one occasion To
render him slight service, obtained
from him in return good deal Of infor.
mstion concerning those parts OF the In
terror with which he was familiar.
Some of his own adventures, which he
occasionally related In illustration Of the
facts thus communicated, seemed TO me
70 be curious and interesting enough 10
be worth preserving. One OF them will
endeavor 70 repeat 40 nearly as possible
in the words In which he told It.:
i was on my way TO DammAra Land,
with two wagons and about dozen peo-
pie. Two Of them were Mozambique
blacks, whom l had brought with me
from Cape Town, and the remainder were
HottentOts and Nsmaquas that I had
picked up on the way Most of them !
got at old Schmelens Missionary Station,
on this side Of the Orange river. The
two negroes were tolerabiy good servants |;
they had gained some knowledge Of civi.
lied habits in Cape Town. The others
could do little beside helping TO drive the
wagons; though sometimes they were Of
service In following 'spoor' traces OF
game, you know. They knew the coun-
try well, and, by keeping pretty sharp
eye upon them, was able 70 make them
useful
In tracking game, a. said, they some
times rendered good service; but they
were great towards, and though some OF
them could handle firearms tOlerably well,
never could get them to Taco any dan
geroua animal such az buffalo or rhi.
noceros, and least of all lion, with any
steadiness. shot two or three rhinoCer-
oses with little support from any Of them,
except Apollo, la young HottentOt, whom
Mr. Hutton HAD picked up and betriendtd
few years previous TO the incident re-
lated |, who always stood by me like q
Trojan, though his teeth sometimes chat
tered, and his eyes became like sRucers
% we approached the enemy.
Zone afternoon" continued Hutton, II
out. spanned near . pool, where many ami
mails Of different sorts came at night TO
drink. We could sec their tracks ell
about the margin. The Nxmaquas knew
the place well, and urged me to cncamp at
little distance of, saying that the lions
were 81 to kwaad,' or very angry, IN thst
region and that II We rested near the
water We should be very likely to lose some
OF our oxen, and might perhaps be our.
selves attacked. For 1t II curious fact
that when q lion has once tasted human
hesh, he seems To acquire peculiar relish
for Il, and will leave I'll other game un-
touched II he has q chance of seizing
upon man. did not wish to run any
rfsk, 30 far 40 my people, or my oxen
either were concerned and 90, after max
Ing them drink heartily, drove OF to q
distance of about two miles, and out.
spanned In . small valley, out OF sight
from the pool
1--WE kindled large fre TO keep of any
Wild beasts that might be prowliDg about,
and them turned the oxen loose TO pick up
what little heritage they could flnd among
the rocks about uA For myself, I felt 9
strong desire to have shot ct . lion. ]
had not bsgged one for more than three
years In TACT, had been unlucky In
two or thr long Shots and began TO fear
that should get out OF practice In that
sort Of sport. which requires good nerves
and experience more than anything else.
asked four or i've OF my best men, In.
cluding Apollo, Il they would watch with
me ct the pool that night tOT lions Three
Of them consented, and We LEFT the others
with the wagons, with strict injuncti0ns
70 keep the fre burning, and not 10 let
the oxen stray TO distance.
"We reached the water Just at sunset,
and ct 10 work ct once with the spades
and hoes which We had brought with NJ,
10 dig hole in the sand three or four
test deep, about twenty yards nom the
"In about an hour we finished our hid.
ing.place, throwing up the earth about il
60 6 70 conceal AZ stu better from the
sight Of the Wild snimalA We then set.
tied ourselves comfortably In the trench,
and lay there with our guns In readiness,
waiting for the lions
1--WE stayed there al night to no pur.
pose. A good many animals came down
10 drink, but no lions. There we're spring.
boks, gemsboks. sebrsA quaggas and
some other crsatures, but We did not
wAste our ammunition upon them, - we
were In no want Of meat; and, beaides, .
single shot would have alarmed the lions,
and prevented them from Approaching
the water: However, = y happened, We
Jared no better for keeping quiet and
soon after dswn We came out Of our
grayA sti1, sleepy and sulky, without
having had 3 glimpse of : Hon, though
We hsd heard them roaring IN the de-
Ance