Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1873-08-28

pair OF lions; the liOnesS rolling on its
back and striking at the males head with
its fore paws like kitten, while he stood
majestically above her. stopped mo-
ment to watch them, and it was well
worth it. and then rushed off after my
Kaffre TO load. The position was good,
and might have killed one to certainty;
but when had succeeded in getting him
down from the top of big tree, and went
back. they had gone. suppose they
must have got our wind. No doubt they
had been hunting all night, and had been
down to the river to drink preparatory to
going to bed.
l do not think the lion deserves his
title as king Of beasts, though perhaps he
is the most noble looking. Elephants are
decidedly more sagacious, and the black
rhinoceros (upety0ne) is certainly more
dangerous, and either of the two could
kill him in few moments, with but little
danger to themselves. Indeed, he cannot
manage an old buffalo bull, unless he
takes it by surprise.
Until lately they were to be found in
Natal, and in troops in the Zulu country,
hit have retired back with the game, and,
except on the Zulu coast, there are now
only a few stray ones until you reach the
Ubombo Mountains. There, along the
banks of the rivers Pongolo, Nkwavuma,
Usutu, and more especially the Mbuluzi
and Mbulzane, they abound, troops of ten
or twelve being by no means rare. Like
all the feline tribe they hunt more by
night than by day, but in the uninhabited
districts they prowl about by daylight,
hunting has been successful they sleep the
,bnI Ia la,r i,,c ;clc hor hut hai
prey, returning to it after their evening
drink, as, like all carnivora, they must
drink frequently, and their presence is a
sure sign of water being near.
Their favorite food is buffalo and zebra,
preferably the latter, though they gencr-
ally go after the former, as they are more
easily stalked from frequenting the thick
er parts of the jungle.
Sometimes when attracted by meat,
they will come and roar all night within
few yards of the camp, and cases have
occurred when they have attacked it. l
remember one man, a European, who had
spent the night in tree watching male
lion which had sprung into the camp and
seized piece of meat, kindly taking no
notice of the terrified scramble he caused,
and which, after roaring for a little, was
Joined by two lionesses, the three proceed
ing to eat all the busfalo-meat in stock,
one always keeping guard while the other
two went to water.
This is habit of theirs when they have
killed anything, to protect it from vul-
lures, wolves, and jackals, which, if not
prevented, would pick the bones clean in
a few minutes.
know Dutch hunter, very power
full man, who was once sleeping out near
the Nkwavuma. He had been unsuccess-
fully pursuing game all day, and had
made no camp fence or other protection,
as he had got no nseat with him. During
the night he was awoke by something
catching hold of hoad Of his arm. Think
ing it was wolf he made a tremendous
effort to free himself, striking out at it
with the disengaged arm. The blow was
such that if it did not knock the animal
down it any rate drove it back, and en-
abled him to snatch up his rifle and fire.
The lion, as to his establishment 1t turned
out to be, jumped away roaring, and next
morning was found dead a few yards off.
They are excessively fond Of eating
buffalo and other game, killed too late in
the day to be broken up, and, even when
the hunters are sleeping by it, they will
come almost within the glare of the fire,
and tear and crunch away, taking no
notice of shots or stones, but an occasion
al growl, unless hit, when they are pretty
certain to make one spring into the center
of the camp and do ell the mischief they
can. AprOpos of this, l remember hear
ing of very plucky thing done by a
native hunter of a friend of mine. He had
killed buffalo and was sleeping out by
it alone, and during the night heard
crunching going ON that only lions
powerful jaw could produce. He got up,
and by the dim light of thirdQgarter
moon could just make out the outlines OF
two lions, about two yards off He took a
steady aim-he only had single barrel
and fired at the nearest, which made q
bound upward and fell dead. The other
took no notice, and after a minute resum-
ed its meal, upon which he quietly loaded
and shot it dead upon the spot. 1t show
ed great pluck, for, alone in the dark with
two lions and only one shot to trust to, is
anything but pleasant position.
Sometimes have heard the most ex-
traordinary concerts going on rcund
game the lions were feeding on, wolves,
hyenas, and jackals keeping up a contin-
ual round of bowling, squealing and
laughing, which, being interpreted, meant,
suppose thai they were very hungry
and wished the lions would clear out and
let them begin. 1t is by no means un-
usual to find wolf or jackal lying dead,
punished on the spot foc daring to ap-
proach too near the bigger robbers sup
per, and have often seen the spoor OF
where lion had chased wolves several
hundred yards away from his prey.
Mach has been written about their roar,
and must confess to having been disap-
pointed in it at first; but after time l
discovered that, though it has no resem-
blance to thunder, or anything Of that
sort, it really is a very awe-insplrlng
sound. 1t commences by low booming
growl, repeated two or three times, and
Increasing in loudness until it becomes
roar that fills the air, and dies away again
in low muttering. Lions coming from
different direction will often keep it up
for half an hour, answering one another,
and it shows how the animal is dreaded,
that the moment it is heard near camp
there is dead silence. More wood is
hastily heaped on the fire, and all the
natives uneasily shift their positions and
take up their guns and spears. More
than once have lost nights sleep by
serenade of this description, the lions,