The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1873-09-18
The Lion and the Shark.

It is now many years since Captain
Parker commanded brig named the
Sarah. and sailed from London for the
coast of Africa with general cargo to
barter for produce. In one of his bust
ness transactions, amongst other CON-
modities, he got young cub lion, and
resolved to bring it home to London.
Bob Jones. the cabin-boy, took charge
of it, and. there not being a dog on
board, putit into the dog-kennel, and
by his kindness to it, and his feeding it
regularly, they became great friends.
The cub grew very fast, and Bob
would play with it every chance he had,
and even neglected his duty to gambol
with the favorite. Still, the captain
would not see this, for he was as fond
of the cub as the boy was, though he
dared not make so free with it.
A great number of people used to go
to the dock to see this creature, as it
became SO fond of the boy, and would
play and roll about the deck with him
on a fine day, to the great amusement
of the lookers-on in fact, they were
more like two lion whelps, tumbling
over each other and wrestling, than
any IulnB elSe Dlu ho oilO CASSPO DOp
dared touch the cub.
Then the Sarah was chartered, at so
much per month, to go to Akyab to load
rice, and was about eighteen months on
the voyage round. When the vessel
returned to London the lion had grown
to be as large as Newfoundland dog,
and all the time the boy Jones had
been his comrade and attendant, and
could still take the same liberties with
it, but no one else dared to do so, not
even the captain, though he was very
kind to it, and he would not allow any
of the sailors to be otherwise. Once,
half in Jest, one of the men offered to
take ropes end to the cub, but its
fury was so great that the jest was
never repeated, and the man was not
safe on the deck afterwards. On the
whole, however, all the sailors were
fond of the creature, and would have
liked to play with it, but none were
permitted, or indeed safe to do SO, ex-
cept his first friend, Bob Jones. With
him the whelp was always docile.
A singular circumstance occurred on
the homeward passage. Three days
after passing the Cape of Good Hope
the Sarah fell in with number of
sharks. 1t was fine, calm day, and
all on board set to work to try and
catch one of these monsters. The Off
GERS tried to shoot one, and the sailors
to harpoon one, but all in vain. At
last the sailors got long rope, in which
they tied a sliding loop or moose, and
with great difficulty they managed to
throw this over the head of shark
which approached the vessel nearer
than the rest; then they drew the rope
tightly, and with immense exertion the
monster was got on board, after about
six hours labor. Once on deck, the
shark made such use of its tail that no
one could venture to go near it. Pres
emily the young lion, seeing a stranger
on deck cutting such queer capers,
seemed curious to have a nearer look
at him, but his enterprise cost him
dear, for the shark managed to get one
of the lions fore-paws in its mouth.
He then became almost mad with rage
and pain, for his foot could not be ex-
tricated until the upper and lower jaws
of the monstrous shark were forced
apart, while the roars of the lion were
awfully hideous to hear.
A new Office now devolved upon Boil
Jones, for he alone could venture to &C
near the wounded whelp. He washed
it's injured paw and carefully bound il
up, while the poor animal lay still and
| permitted him to do as he liked with it.
and even seemed to be grateful for his
| attentions. These were constantly per
formed, and the noble animal evinced
greater fondness than ever for his
attendant, but the vessel nearly reached
England before the lions foot was quite
well.
Captain Parker was afraid to take the
lion to sea again, although all on board
and especially Bob Jones, was sorry tC
part with it, but the risk was too great
so he sold his singular passenger to al
American captain for $15. What became
oft afterwards we never knew.Leisatr,
Hour.