Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-12-13
The Lions Embrace,
From the Poughkeepsie Press

20 L-.E EAoAa VIC AOuSAhCSpSlC lSoS.
M. Chassaing, the celebrated French
lion hunter, while in Algeria, got two
shots at a lion, which bounded away
into the covering of evergreen oak or
ilexes, grooming at the same time, as if
much hurt. The next morning the
Arabs were ordered to bring their
horses from the encampment, while
they set off to follow the traces Of the
wounded beast. The Arabs assisted in
the search, keeping, however, at res
pectable distance, amid tufts Of broom
and diss or tall grass, But we must let
our hunter relate his experience of a
lions embrace in his own words, for
such experiences are not of everyday
occurrence 4-l@>
"Suddenly powerful roar came
forth from the midst of one of these
tufts, and saw the lion raise up, and
with the first bound he came within six
yards of where I stood. Hurried by the
imminence Of the danger, fred with
out taking aim, and I had barely time
to press my finger on the trigger before
the enormous mass fell upon me,
crushing me down. I was overthrown,
my head downward; the lion was over
me and had my right arm between his
jaws. Obeying the instinct of preserva-
ton, L endeavOred to obtain possession
Of my pistols with the left; but they
had fallen out of my waistband when I
was struck down. [ was thus left help
less against my terrible adversary,
without any other means CT defense
than my arms, one Of which was
paralyzed in the animals mouth.
The lion, however, let go my arm,
and sought to catch me by the h cad !;
the spring which he took from behind
to effect this caused me to slip under
him, but his tooth took my lower lip
in the movement, and cut it down to
the chin. By a superhuman effort [
seized the lion by the name over the
ear and slipped my thumb over his
lower jaw. managed to keep it at a
distance; another movement made me
slip further, SO that he could no longer
catch my hand without changing his
position; but he seized my arm a
second time and bit severely. All this
had taken much less time than has
been occupied in the description.
Never having lost my senses, then
shouted out, Here, Captain, help 7
But in vain. / was alone.
My strength began to fail me, in con-
sequence of the prolonged resistance /
had opposed to my adversary, and the
pain that his bite gave me. was in
deed sinking, when [ perceived that
the lion was less vigorous, and that he
appeared even as if about to let me go.
This inspired me with new courage,
and also gave the captain time to dis
charge his double-b arreled rifle into
the tanks of the animal. Happy for
me the balls had no impetus, or they
would have gone through me as well.
1t was afterwards ascertained that THESE
balls, not being conical only penetrated
an inch or two, whereas my last ball,
having struck in the breast, had in
jured it both in the lungs and region OF
the heart. ~ a8a
These two new wounds hence only
increased the fury of the beast, which
letting go of. my arnc, seized me by the
shoulder, the only part of me that he
could lay hold of; then, rising upon his
hind legs, he bounded towards the
bottom of the ravine carrying me with
him. This was terrible moment, and
! l thought had reached my last. As