Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-07-26
CAPTURING A LION.
How He Was Finally Lured Into
Captivity.

Captivity.
Last year at this time I estimated
that the menageries and geological gar
dens of France. England, Germany and
America contained upward of five hun
dred animals and serpents which l had
helped to capture. For seven years ]
was employed by dealer in menag-
erie stock at Amsterdam to look for
and seek to capture any living thing in
the curiosity line for which there was
a demand, and l doubt if you can find
a geological garden in the world which
does not contain some specimen of my
handiwOrk. Sometimes l was with a
party of fifteen or twenty people, en-
plOyes and natives, and again there
were only three of us in company. 1t
depended, of course, on what sort of
game we were after.
The largest lion ever saw in captiv-
ity was trapped near the village of
Wadi Halfa, on the White Nile, Egypt.
OF all the sportsmen and natives who
saw him, none had ever beheld such
a magnificent specimen. A band of
five of us had made our headquarters
at this village for a fortnight. looking
after this very beast. who was known
to the people along the Nile for hun
dred miles, and whose depredations
had broken up many herdsmen. He
had been ravaging.the country for over
two years, and some wonderful stories
We're told of his strength, cunning and
ferocity. Several hunting parties had
been organized to pursue and kill the
monster. but in each instance the lion
killed two Or three of the hunters and
escaped without scratch. The only
time he had ever been wounded was by
a spear in the hands of a woman.
The big lion had leaped the stockade
of a herdsmen and seized a calf. and as
he was preparing to spring out again
the woman ran at him and gave him
a wound just above the eyes. This
left scar which added greatly to the
lions ferocious aspect, and also served
to identify him. In the six months
previous to our arrival at Wadi Halfa
the big beast had killed and eaten fifty
natives. and hardly night passed that
he did not slaughter horse, an OK. or
sheep. He had driven all the other
lions ava. and had the field to himself,
and so great was the terror he inspired
that travel over certain roads and
paths to the west of the village had
been entirely suspended even in the
daytime. Five miles west of the vii
lage was a broken. wooden district of
fifteen miles broad. and in this range
the lion was safe. He was heard OF as
far down as Sloot, one hundred and
fifty miles north. and as far up as Old
Dongola, one hundred miles south. but
the greater portion of his time was
spent near Wadi Halfa.
Had we desired the death of the lion
We should have gone out with our guns
and popped at him. but he was no good
to us unless We captured him alive and
without serious injury. We spent two
days looking the ground over, and then
decided to try the simplest plan first.
Sharp men are always posted on sharp
tricks. 1t is the same with wild
beast who has been much hunted. He
is looking for his enemies to catch him
by some new trick. The natives had
this lion as too well posted
to fall into pit. and none had ever
been dug. We selected path which
he had used so often to come down to a
pool of water in the hills that he had
beaten it hard. and here we tied a
sheep. The old fellow took the bait
the first night.
On the next night We left another,
but the lion passed it by. went down to
the plain and killed an OK. and on his
way back to his den about daylight.
stopped and killed the sheep and passed
on. He did likewise on the third night.
seeming to have lost his taste for NUT
ton. but stopping to kill for the pleas
ure of it. We furnished fourth, and
q fifth, and each was killed in rotation.
1t was easy to imagine the scene. The
sheep was tied to a small tree beside
the path. about twenty feet from the
pool. The lion must pass him to get to
the water. He issued from his lair at
sunset as We knew by his roaring, and
with head high in air and stately tread
he took his way down the path. The
poor sheep heard and scented him. and
after vain struggle to get away be-
came hOrror-stricken, and could only
use its eyes. The lion came slowly
down the path, growing and lashing
his tail. and when fifteen feet AWAY
halted and uttered roar which shook
the hills. The sheep was frozen with
fear. A man, tied and helpless. would
have tainted away.