St. Tammany farmer., 1888-03-17

AsssA W uosa1luk UuL COW0IUlCCs uul AsC
WAS to redeem himself.
When we had gone into camp that
evening there were fifty people OF us.
with four or five wagons, score OF
horses. and from thirty to forty bull
locks. We made quite village; and
noisy one. Just while the supper fires
were being replen;shed, and when
everybody was moving about. this sam.
lion came out Of \ thick piece of woods.
roared loudly. and then walked straight
at us. His roar aroused US. but no one
supposed he would come nearer.
The old fellow came forward at
a dignified gait until he had
traverscd half the distance, and
then. making half dozen long bounds.
he entered camp. No one was ready
for him. and there was . great scatter
ing. Some of us sprsng for trees. and
others dived into the tents; and such
row among horses and oxen you never
heard. The old lion stood in = clear
spot in the center of camp. and roarcd
and growled and switched his tail about
and bade us defiance. and before. any
one Of US could make ready for sho:
At him he sprang upon COW. rolled her
over, and then fastened his teeth into
her neck and drew her out Of camp.
passing so close to one Of the fires as to
drag the hind legs of the COW over the
Goals. As soon IS he was clear Of the
camp . dozen of us sprang out with
our guns and fired at him by sound. and
BY great good luck two Of the bullets
hit him in the head and finished him.
We had seen him drag the COW of As
easily as a man could draw the body Of
dog. and to make comparison Of
strength we ordered four natives to take
hold Of the carcass They could barely
move it. 1t took seven Of them to drag
it back to the fires. and they had hard
tug At that.
The next adventure showed both the
bravery and fierceness of the animal in
one. l had been out alone with my
rifle, and was on my way back to camp.
and at about five o. clock in the evening
skirted . sink or water hole on the edge
Of dense wood. Suddenly . lion ut
tered terrific roar. and looked up to
find a big fellow facing me. He had
been creeping down the edge Of the
wood. perhaps routed out Of his lair by
some Of our men. and while he was ap-
preaching the pool from one direction
was approaching from the other. He
was not over three hundred feet away.
and l knew at first glance that he was
mad. His name was up. his tail switch
ing, and he meant fight He could
have been under cover ct > jump. and
thus avoided me altogether. and this
would have been characteristic Of lion
disturbed at that hour Of the day. !
brought my rife down. aimed to hit
him between the eyes, and pulled the
trigger. The ball grazed his skull.
knocking him down and making him
crazy for . moment suspected from
his antics that he was only touched.
| and knew that IS soon as he had gath
cred himself he would come for me.
He was whirling round and round and
rolling over. and there was no show for
= fair shot. therefore made bolt for
the nearest tree. and was just of the
ground when the lion screamed out,
and dropped my gun to get above his
reach.
It was : close call for me. The
blood blinded him - he made his
spring, and the paw which struck at
me passed clear Of my body. He went
to the ground in . heap. rolled over
two or three times, and before he was
M was out Of reach. / got seat
about twenty-five feet from the ground,
and the way that old fellow ragged and
raved for the next quarter Of an hour
was circus to zee. He had been in
ill-temper before I raked his skull. He
was now 50 mad that he would have
faced . regiment Of men. From the
limb where sat to the next, ton feet
higher. the tree was smooth. and did
not dare attempt to climb it. was
Just safe and no more. The enraged
beast made all sorts Of attempts te
reach me. even trying to climb. but
was safe. Several times he ran bach
on the plain few rods and then came
for me Hail Columbia. springing up te
within three or four feet Of my rercl
but never coming high enough. Hi.
repeated failures angercd him still
further, and II lion ever lost his heaf
and got mad from nose to tail that fol
low did. When he found he couldn'
get me he made circles about the tree
rolled over and over. and his growl
and roars were enough to set me in :
chill.
had my revolver, but It containe'
only three charges. and had no NOR
ammunition. l should have to reacl
his brain or heart to kill him. and b.
would not give me an opportunity 70
; . steady shot I soon saw that va
! doomed to pass the night in the tree
! and then decided to save my bullet
for some other danger which might b
} expected. The sun had hardly gon
down when darkness came on. Tn
lion gave up trying to reach me AM
sat up at the foot Of the tree. and .
} the darkness grew deeper could -
his eyes blaze like Goals. Il was n
use expecting any help from the camp
) for no one would know which way 3
, look for me. and after awhile got
| hitch around the tree with my scar
. and took such precautions as wOul'
, prevent me from falling OF the linn
, should 60 to sleep. That was hor
. rible night At an early hour ever.
D species OF wild beast and night bir
was astir. and psndemonium reigne