The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1874-05-18
CALIFORNIA LIONS,
A Travellers Account of his Encounter
with seven wild Beasts.

an adventure in the wilds Of that Ter.
ritory: "0n my way from Prescott I
stopped for the night OF Old Camp
Huslpai. In the morning / started
early, in order 10 take advantage,of the
little frost on the ground, which made
itbetter travelling over the clay fats
that are found near Anvil Rock. i
reached the summit Of the Aztec Pass
quite early; the wind was blowing cold
and the air was full OF snow, and I put
a blanket about my face and urged my
horse forward as fast as I could, / had
not travelled one mile from the summit
OF the Pass when my horse stopped; ]
looked forward, and in the road not
fifty yards from me I saw two cougars,
Commonly called California lions.
One Of them turned around 80 as to
show TO the best advantage possible,
The ether, o smaller one, got down
close to the ground, and acted as
though he intended to spring at my
horse. Host no time in getting ont my
pistol, and as soon rs my horse became
quiet enough, fred at the creeping
monster. / undershot my mark. The
ball struck rock about one foot in adj
vance Of the creeping lion, and glanced
OF with o sharp whistling noise. AT
this moment / observed five other mon
sters Of the same species rise up from
the dry grass close by the road side.
all seven hoped OFF about twenty PAGES
10 the right of the road and stopped on
open ground, within sixty yards Of me.
Now, this was the first hop Of the sea-
son, and here was /, an uninvited guest;
but hastily took items, and, as IL Is
customary to describe dress undappear-
auce at fashionable hops, I will record
items as I took them three Of The lions
were very largo, in fact, monsters Of
their species, and would weigh at least
300 pounds; tho others were smaller,
but I should judge the smallest TO
weigh at least 100 pounds. II being
midwinter, furs were all the rage The
three largest Of these fellows wore q
dark gray bordering on o brown cont,
being q little lighter on their aides; in
front and under their bodies was white
and appeared like white lace or down.
The fourth was O little smaller, and his
dress was q little darker in color The
three smaller ones were dressed in o
dark chestnut coat on the sides II
bordered on yellow with the same lace
Of downy trimming. The dresses glis-
tened as they turned, and reSpmbled
changeable silk their movements were
with much grace and ease. They all
wore tails at least four feet long, and
full three feet more than q lion Ind any
use for, but, I presume, long tails are
fashionable in these parts, II not each
lion or lioness had TO carry his or her
own tail, and 1t was not for moto say
how long tail o lion should carry.
One Of tie larger ones, which took to
be a mother OF part OF the group, sat
down like a cat she raised her great
paw and licked Il, and thenrubbed her
ear and side Of hor head as . cat would.
The, movements were awkward but
easy. II she was washing her iace she
should have done 80 before coming to
the hop. The second large one sat
very quiet and looked on. The third
large one, which / took to be . male,
eptalittle in the rear, and appeared
to be uneasy, as though he expelled re.
iniorcements from another direction,
and I earnestly hoped that no others
would appear, as there were already
enough for the occasion.
The fourth, 0 lively fellow, put his
big paws ont large pine root TINT pro-
truded above the ground, and raked IL
down as though he was springing o lit
tie bluff. The bark fewin every direc.
tion. AS scratchist this fellow was a
decided success. AT the same time the
three small ones lay down closoto the
groundand riyeted their eyes on me or
my horse, and commenced crawling up
as though they would like moro init.
mate acquaintance. Ihad heard that II
one looked o lion In the face II would
turn away but how could I look three
lions in the eye Of the same times I'm.
possible. Now I would like 10 have
compromised this whole matterby Civ.
ing o horse, butmy horse was trembling
with fear, which plainly told me that
he would no. stand to any bargain OF
this kind. / looked for a sapling, but
they do not grow in this part Of Ari.
zona; none but large pines vere in
sight, and all the lions in Arizona could
not frighten me up d tree four feet In
diameter. To dismount would make
dead shot, but then there would be
SIX lions left, md I afoot. Thiawould
not do. / resolved 70 try another shot,
50 l got my horse to face the game and
again I fred. AS my pistol cracked the
foremost crawleriumped about ak feet
in the air and struck on his ieet, and
bit his side as though he had been
stung by q bee. At this the large ones
II