The Canton mail. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 18??-1882, 1875-11-27
LION HUNTING.

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LION HUNTING.
| THRILLING EXPERIENCE OF AN I'm
GLIsH OFFICER-HABITS OF THE
LION AND THE PANTHER.
The Paris correspondent of the Bos-
ton Advertiser sends that paper the
following letter relating to the expe.
| riences Of an old African soldier, who,
be says, speaks of nothing he has not
himself sect; and who modestly with
holds only such episodes ms would place
himself in conspicuous position.
DEAR FRIEND: You wish me to in
troduce you to the true Arab lion hunt,
which you must know little resembles
the fantastic tales told by certain Eu-
rUpean travellers, and dilated upon by
newspaper and novel writer's until
there is no possibility of separating
truth from fiction, or drawing to any
satisfactory degree a conclusion re-
garding the lion and panther, which
are in fact our only dangerous African
carnivorous animals. Lions are quite
numerous in certain parts of the prov
ince of Constantine, rare in those of
Algiers and Oran. Panthers, on the
contrary, are seldom seen in the last
two provinces, but are numerous in
Algiers. The habits of these two car
nivora differ essentially. AS general
rule, neither the one nor the other
attacks men, unless molested or threat
ened by him. 1t sometimes happens,
however, that panther surprised while
eating springs furiously upon the man
whose imprudent foot has troubled the
silence Of his repast, and in this case
there is nothing to hope, as before the
bravest man can have got possession of
his arms he is bruised and broken
mass. The panther tears and multi
ates the body, even after all life has
fled, but does not devour it. In gen.
eral he kills for the pleasure Of killing,
and even when attacking u flock or
herd he vents his savage fury OH many
before deciding to eat one.
The lion, on the contrary, springs
upon his victim and at once devours
it, or dragging it to a preferred dining
spot, quietly makes his repast, nor
thinks of troubling the rest of the flock
until renewed appetite leads him to
satisfy his hunger in the same way. If,
during the repast, he sees a man APP
proach, and is not ravenous, ne gets up
and walks away slowly, one may say
solemnly; or sometimes not even deign-
ing this, he raises his majestic head,
looks at the intruder, and by half
friendly growl warns him that he will
not stand being troubled when at
dinner. A pedestrian finding himself
in this position does well to withdraw
slowly, for, should he become fright
ened and run, the lion is quite capable
of feeling desire to overtake him,
and in that case will; even in that case,
if the man has presence of mind suffi-
Gent to- understand the danger, and do
the only thing remaining to be done,
he may still escape safe and sound.
For the lion seems oftenest actuated
by halfplayful, friendly sentiment,
and so he does not lose his respect for
troubles him. Often
times he joins and passes the pedes-
trian, and when at good distance
crouches across his path, watching his
If the man has the unfor-
tunate idea of turning to run away, he
is lost, but if he comes OH quietly,
neither faster nor slower than his usual
pace, looking his enemy steadily in
the face, and showing no igns of fear,
he has every chance to escape. Tho
lion will growl, wag his tail in rather
a terrifying way, but, allowing the man
to pass before him, get up, and, as
though admitting to himself that he
had honestly lost the game, go Quietly
back to his lair.
A lion rarely attacks women, and l
once witnessed scene which will go
further than the longest explanation
toward illustrating this. 1t was a hot,
sultry day in July. The sirocco made |
the atmosphere dense with sand and
glare; the very earth seemed on fire.
| was returning from a little expedition
on the frontiers of Tunis, and as had
some matters to settle with tribes in |
the envirens of la Gale, l left my
troops to return to Constantine, and,
followed by only two spaltis, turned my |
steps toward la Guile. Having started |
just before day, we arrived about 4
o'clock in the afternoon at the ford of |
the little river de Ia Mafiug. Our
horses, as well as ourselves, were sadly |
in want of food and drink, and we
stopped to refresh ourselves at a little |
inn kept by European, and situated
Oh low mound two or three hundred
yards from the ford. While waiting
for my frugal repast [ unbuckled my |
sword, laid by my pistols, and, stretched |
out comfortably in the shade, idly |
band of Arab women wash
ing clothes i'm the river. All at once |
[ was startled by cries proceeding from
the opposite side of a sand-heap bor-
iering the river, and half a dozen
women came rushing into the midst of
their peaceable companions, dragging
them into the shallow water, and be-
hind them magnificent lion, his tail
proudly in air, and his great brown
eyes looking caressingly from one to
he other. Paying no attention to their
retreat into the river, he followed them
here, rubbing himself up against them,
not seeming to mind, in the least, their
.ries or terrified gesticulations, and
majestically walked away into
he mountains from whence he had
come. This lion was Il stranger in that
part of the country, and when on the
ollowing day | went in search of him,
lie had disappeared.
A nice boy of nine years WAS taken
very sick while visiting schoolmate in