The Press., 1888-03-29

rhinoceros. The lions and partners were raising an awful racket, and the confusion was deafening The big beast cleared his horn of portion of the cage hanging to It, and then struck that containing the pan thers. The beasts were liberated in mo nient, and as they ran about the deck the Hons roared and rayed until we had 70 stop . our ears. One of the partners ran aft ana leaped into the yawl boat at the. .dav1ts and crouched under the thwart, and the other hid under the bedding we had brought up to air and spread at the heel of the bowsprlt.
 The borele was now thoroughly enrageds and, without deigning glance at the pan thers, he smashed into the pen of lions and made kindlings of it. The largest of the three lions sprang on the boreles bacK as he came out of the pen, and perhaps his sharp claws inflicted some damage. He had no sooner leaped to the deck than the big beast - chased him aft to the cabin, but had to stop there. One of the other lions disappeared downthe ferecastle, while the third crouched down by the water butt and kept mp a Tear full growing. No ships crew ever founa themselves in stranger situation. It was pretty hard to say what should be done, and it was a full hour before we got any word from the captain During this time the borele drove the other lion aft, smashed the water butt drove the panther out from un- der the bedding into the forecastle with the third lion, and then destroyed our bedding and everything else which would yield to his terrible horns. Just before the captain called out to us one of our men pulled him. self across to the foremast by the triangle stay, slipped down the lee shrouds, and, waiting until the borele was headed aft, he dropped to the deck and slid the cover over the forecastle companion. That act 1m- prisoned lion, panther and one of the ser pents, and was display of judgment and nerve which the captain we'll rewarded.
 The men shut up in the cabin finally hailed us to know the situation. The other two lions were crouehed down at the wheel, and the panther in the boat had no idea of leav- ing it. The three beasts kept up low growing and snarling, and would have picked fight but for the presence of com mon enemy. It was the rhinoceros which must be taken care of first. By order of the captain another man crossed to the foremast, and then the two descended the shrouds and shouted and gestured defiance at the borele
 until he was brought to the bows. Then three men, armed with guns and revolvers, slipped out of the cabin and into the shroudS
 of the inainmast, and it began to look as if
 we had the advantage While we were try ing to draw the borele aft again, that they
 might make target of him, one of the lions
 leaped into the yawl, while the other ran
 
 scarcely entered the yawl when the panther
 tackled him, and for a minute the two
 bounded over the thwarts and tumbled
 about in the hercest confusion, The yawl
 rocked about as if it would upset, and the
 screams and roars of the beasts were some
 thing awful Glancing for an instant from
 the combatants to the water below, saw
 the sharks gathering astern of us almost
 as thick as they could pack. Could one of
 us reach the tackle and lower away, we
 would be rid of two more of our enemies. The man below me on the shrouds moved
 down a little, thinking to carry out the idea,
 but just then the fighting beasts reared up
 over the thwart amidships, seized each other
 with fresh grip, and as they tugged and
 tussled, the rocking o& the boat dumped them out, and the sharks snapped them up in a
 second.
 The fight drew the attention of the rhi-
 noeeros. On his way aft he came across the
 lion, who was skulking under the bulwarks,
 and drove him back to his former position at
 the wheel. As I told you before, the big
 beast could not crowd in between the cabin roof and the bulwarks, but now, seeming to be madder than ever, he saw new route be- fore him. The roof of the cabin was about two feet above the deck, with & heavy glass skylight in the center. After few terrific snerts the borele started to walk over the cabin roof He got his full weight upon it, when his fore feet went through with a crash, and he rolled sideways into the narrow passage and was stuck fast feet in the air, and the maddest rhinoceroS on earth. While he was struggling there the men began firing upon the ion After being hit three times he bounded over the cabin and ran forward out of sight. I think he attempted to go out on the bowsprit and was attacked by ] the serpent. We heard something of a ! struggle, followed by a heavy splash in the water, and that was the last known of ! either. All of us now clambered down to ] attack the rhinoceros He was helpless to defend himself, and we used axes and bullets ] to rid him of life. Indeed, we chopped him l in pieces in order to handle the body and get 1t overheard.
 There were now lion, a panther, and q serpent in the forecastle, and we proposed to l let lem fight it out. It was long after dinner before we cleared the deck, and we had not yet washed out the blood when @ breeze sprang up, and we held our course Had it come an hour sooner we should have been In 1 bad fix, as nobody could have touched the sails. Such bedding as could be spared from
 the cabin was passed up, and it was arranged for us to sleep on deck during the rest of the voyage. Not sound had been heard from
 the forecastle during the day, but just be- l fore dark there was an awful rumpus. We
 could hear the hiss of the serpent, the
 screams of the panther, and the growls of the lion, and the row continued for a quar- ter of an hour. Then it died away, and I nothing further disturbed us during the night. After breakfast next morning we
 armed ourselves with cutlasses and capstan l bars, and stood about the hatch while the cover was slid back. There was an awful
 smell, but nothing moved. After @ while 1 one of the men descended the ladder mart
 way, and it was presently discovered that all
 our enemies were dead. There had been @ triangular fgEt between lem, and it had con
 tinued until all were destroyed. The two
 beasts were bitten and scratched in the most
 terrible manner, and the serpent had been
 bitten through and through a dozen times.
 1t took us whole day to get rid of the
 stench and clean up, and our captain would
 not have taken another cage aboard the brig
 for it's weight in gold.--New York Sun. l A POnr;r1or INa&o,. do6n&S,,r. .o,;a&~v