St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-09-19
The Habits of Lions.


lived for many years among these
animals, and their very name recalls
inmumcrahlc recollections and anec-
dotes.
Perhaps the most beautiful sight
ever saw in connection with them.
worth all the Toes i'll the world. was on
Il morning | had gone out to hunt with
one bearer at dawn. had not got far
from camp. and my gun WAS still un-
loaded. while | was examining some
buffalo spoor. when | saw my gun
bearer. who had my cartridges. running
away at full speed. Knowing that he
must have seen something to frighten
him so. | did not shout. bur went To
where he had been standing. a few
yards ahead. and there sure enough.
not twenty wards of, were a pair of
lions: the liomc>s rolling on its back.
and striking out al the males head
with its fore paws like a kitten. while
he stood maie>tically above her. stop
ped n moment To watch them. and il
was well worth it. and then rushed off
after my katliI to load. The position
was good. and might have killed to Il
certainty. but when | had succeeded in
getting him down from the top of a 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.
do not think the lion deserves his
title of king of beasts. though perhaps
lac is the most noble looking. Ele-
plants are decidedly more >aglcious.
and the black rhinoceroS is certainly
more dangerous. and either of the two
could Kill him in Il few moments. with
but little danger to themselves. In
deed. he cannot manage an old buffalo
bull. unless he takes it hy surprise
Until lately they were to he found III
Natal. and III troops in the Zulu conn
try. hut have retired back with the
game. and except on the Zulu coast.
there are HOW only Il few stray ones.
until You reach the | homho Mountains
There. along the banks of the rivers
rongnlo. NkWavuna. I$utu. and more
especially the MhUiuzi and Mbulzanc.
they abound. troops of ten and twelve
being 10y no means rare. Like all the
feline tribe. they hunt more 10y night
than day. but in the UniuhaLilcd dis
trictS they prnwl about by daylight
especially when hungry. When their
hunting has hCcu successful. they sleep
the whole day in some thickct hand 10y
their prey. returning to il after their
evening drink. us. like all carnivora.
they must drink frequently. and their
presence is sure sign of water being
near.
Their favnrite food is buffalo and
Zebra. preferably the latter. though
they generally go after the former. a>
they are more easily stal<ed. from fire.
qucnting the thicker parts of the jun
gle.
Sometimes. when attracted hy meat.
they will come and roar all night with
i'll II few yards of the camp and cases
have occurred when they have attacked
il. | remember one man. Il European. |
who had to spend the night in a tree |
watching Il male lion which had sprung
into camp and seized piece of meat.
kindly taking no notice of the terrified |
scramble he caused. The lion. after
roaring Il little while, was joined hy |
two lioneSScS, the three proceeded to |
eat all the buffalo meat in stock, one
always keeping guard while the other
two went to water.
have killed anything. to protect it from
vultures. wolves and jackals, which, if
not prevented, would pick the bones |
clean in a few minutes.
| know Dutch hunter, very pow
eIful man. who was once sleeping near
the Nkwavuma. He had been unsuc- |
cessfully pursuing game all day, and
had made no camp-tence or other pro-
tartinp bo bnn M n,ant r-;tb b;,,
During the night he was awoke by .
something catching hold of his arm
Thinking it was Il wolf he made ii ire
mendouS effort to free himself, striking
ont ut it with the disengaged arm. The .
blow was such that if it did not knock .
the animal down, it at any rate drove
it back and enabled him to snatch his
rifle and fire. The lion. as to his as
tonishment it turned ont 10 he. jumped
away roaring, and next morning was
found dead IL few yards off.
They are excessively fond of eating
buffalo and other game. killed too late
i'll 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. save
an occasional growl, unless hit, when
they are pretty certain to make one
spring into the centre of the camp and
do all the damage they can. AprOpos
of this. | remember hearing of very
plucky thing done by ii native hunter,
a friend of mine. He had killed a buff
falo 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 a third-quarter moon
could just make out the outlines of two
lions, about twenty yards off He took
a steady aim-he only had a single
oarrel-and fired at the nearest, which