The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-14

three charges. and bad no more ammu-
milton. should have to reach his brain or
heart to kill him, and he would not give me
an opportunity for a STEADY shot. soon
saw that was doomed to pass tie night in
the tree and then decided to save my bull
let's for some other danger which might
be expected. The sun had hardly gone
down when darkness came on. The lion
gave up trying to reach ME and sat up al
the foot OF the tree, and as the darkness
grew deeper | could see his eyes blaze like
Goals. 1t was no use expecting any help from
the camp, as no one would know which way
to look for me, and after while got hitch
around the tree with my scarf and took
such precautions as would prevent me from
failing off the limb should | go to sleep.
That was horrible night. At an early
hour every species of wild beast and night
bird was astir, and pandemonium reigned
through the forest. Twice before midnight
other lions approached the tree to be driven
Off by the sentry, and troop of elephants
on their way to the pool passed within a
hundred feet. About midnight the lion
took on at great rate, scratching up the
leaves and switching his tail in defiance,
and l heard fierce growing and snarling
from some beast which turned out to be a
panther, for | heard his claws raking the
bark as he climbed tree few yards away.
| knew what he WIS after, and ] got my re-
vOlver ready and followed him by sound.
He assembled to a height of about 80 feet,
came toward me on limb, and | could see
his eyes shining like diamonds
The panther would have to spring about
20 feet to reach me. The lion knew what
he was after, and he dashed to and fro
under the tree and kept up such roaring
that all other beasts quit for the time in
disgust. | was facing the panther as ! sat
on my perch. 1t seemed to me that | was
doomed to be eaten by one o. the other, and
the only possible show | had was a S OF at
the panther. could see nothing but his
eyes, but | held my revolver as steadily as
possible and pulled the trigger / think the
beast was just ready to spring. | cannot
say that hit him, but the flash and report
would have confused him. | had hardly
fired when he came for me, but fell short.
and down he went to be seized by the en-
ragged lion. That fight would have been
worth going long way to see. 1t lasted
fully fifteen minutes, and the fierce snarls
and terrible rOars kept me i'll a tromble.
By and by both beasts seemed to have had
enough, aud the conflict ceased. ! heard
the lion walking about and whining and
moaning, but after few minutes these
sounds ceased, and | was not further dis
turbed during the night. When daylight
came | saw the panther dead at the foot of
the tree, and just at the edge of the pool
was the dead body Of the lion. He had
gone there to drink, and had tumbled over
just as he turned from the water.
examined both bodies carefully before
left. Such work with teeth and claws few
men ever saw. The lion had seized each
foreleg of the panther and crushed the
bones of the ankle in his teeth. He had
torn his neck in horrible manner, and had
bitten tine flesh of one of his cheeks until a
pull would have exposed the jawbone on
that side. The painter had bitten the lion
about the throat and breast, but had de-
pended more on his claws. With these he
had literally disembowelled the king.
Fifty miles to the south of where this ad-
venture happened one of our men was one
morning pushing his way through the high
grass along the left bank of a dry creek
when lioness, lion, and two half-grown
cubs sprang up before him. There was no
time to retreat, and he was too dumb
founded to cry out. The lions stood and
stared for few seconds, evidently more
frightened than the man, and then went off
with rush. That day, as we sat in the
shade of great tree eating our lunch, we
were suddenly saluted with a roar of de-
fiance. Our tree stood i'll the open, nearly a
quarter of mile from the forest, and there
we're TWENTY-FIVE of us around the fire. 1t
was high noon, with a bright sun, ard
yet a lion came out of the woods and
directly toward us, roaring as he came and
evidently full of fight. The native called
out that it was one of those he had seen in
the grass, and for time none of us moved
However, it soon became evident that the
old fellow meant mischief, and we seized
guns and spears He held straight for the
crowd, roaring ami growing, ana the in
slant the first shot was fired he increased
his gait to a rush. He was among us in a
few seconds, and for couple of minutes
there was wild excitement. Two or three
men were knocked down, two bitten, one
struck by bullet intended for the lion, and
the beast was finally killed by the thrust of
a spear.