Wichita eagle., 1888-06-08
TRAPPING WILD BEASTS.


had helped to capture. Fol seven years was
employed by a dea,er in nlenagerie stool, at
Amsterdam to look for and seek to capture
any living thing 10 the curiosity line for
s. which there was q demand. and doubt If
you can find a geological garden in the world
which does not contain some specimen OF my
handwork- Sometimes l was with party
Of fifteen OF twenty peop.s. employees and
natives, and again there were only two or
three of us in company. Il depended, OF
course, on what sort of game We were after.
The largest hon ever seen in captivity was
trapped near the village of WGGi Helfa, On
tie White Nile Egypt OF all the sportsmen
and natives who sew him none had ever be
held such magnificent specimen, a band
OF FIVE Of Us mad made our headquarters at
this village for fortnight, looislng after this
very beast, who was known to the people
along the Nile for a hundred miles, and
whose depre6ations had broken Up many
herdsInen. He had been ravaging tho coun-
try for over two years, end some wonderful
stories were told of his strength, cunning and
ferocity. Several hunting parties had been
organized to pursue and kill the monster, but
in each instance tho lion killed two Oh three
Of tie hunters and escaped without scratch
by a spear in the hands of woman
The big lion had leaped the stockade Of
hesisInan and seized a calf, and as he waf
preparing to spring out again the woman ran
at him and gave him a wound Just above the
eyes This left a 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
q night passed that he did not slaughter
horse, an OK or a sheep. He had driven all
other lions awuy and bad the field to himself,
and 50 great was the terror he had inspired
that travel over certain roads and paths to
the west of the village had been entirely sus-
pended even in the daytime Five miles west
of the village was a broken, wooded district
OF fifteen miles long by several miles broad.
and in this range the lien WIS safe He was
heard of as far down as Sioot $50 miles
north, and as far up as Old Dongola, 100
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 nc good to us I'M
less we captured him alive and without seri-
Gus 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
the wild beast who has been much hunted
He is looking for his enemies to catch him by
some new trick. The natives had regarded
this lion ns too well posted to fall into a pit.
and mono had ever been dug. We selected a
path which he had used SO often 70 coms
down TO a pool OF water in tho hills that he
had beaten it hard, and here we tied a sheen
The old fellow took the bait the first nirht
On the next night we left another, but the
lion passed it by, went down TO the plain and
killed an OK, and Oh his way back to his den
about daylight, stopped and killed the sheep
and passed on. lie did likewise on the third
night, seeming to have lost his taste for NUT
ton, but stopping to kill for the pleasure Of
it. We furnished fourth and fifth, and
each was killed in rotation Il was easy to
imagine the SCENE The sheep was tied TO a
small tree beside the path about twenty
feet from tho pool The lion must pass
him 10 get to the water. He issued from his
lair at sunset, ss we knew by his roaring,
and with head high in the air and stately
tread he took his way down the path The
poor sheep heard and scented him, and after
a vain Struggle 10 get away became terror
stricken, and could only use its eyes The
lion ceme 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. The lion enjoyed the terror OF his
puny victim A sheep was but small pota-
toes to a beast who could Kill an 800 pound
OK with one blow of his mighty paw, but yet
il was an occasion not TO be neglected With
slow STEP and with those great yellow eyes
seeming 70 burn into tie head of the victim.
the lion advanced and by and by he stood
over the sheep. The poor thing shivered and
sank down, and for two o. three minutes the
lion shifted and Stuffed aRd playfully touched
4 with his paw Then he passed on and the
sheep was lefs 10 struggle and Shiver and die
a dozen deaths before the big beast returned
30 finish him
We dug our pit carly in the forenoon, when
we knew the lion must be asleep and about
fifteen Zee. above the point where the sheep
had beel Eezi The excavation was four feet
WIDE by eight long and fourteen deep. and
vss SO carefully covered that the sharpest
eyed native could not have told that the
ground haG becn disturbed In addition 10
the sheep, va splinkis1 some fresh OK blood
Oh the parn, and below tbs victim we placed
several pieces of fresh meat Just before
pi,ytIs TIRES Of rs took our stand 10 tree
about a quarter Of a mile from the pit, and
to windwayd Of the lien. snd the sun had not
yet entirely disappeared when we heard the
the lion mu.ter Els siumbers were broken
ard he uas stretching himself and making
ready for the usual night foray Pretty soon
his mutterings changed to Z roar, and then
VIC knew he had started down the path We
could hear the sheep bleat IN terror, and our
hearts beat faster rs wo wondered if our trap
would be : success. The hon was ten minutes
going go yards. As soon as he saw the sheep
HpG got tho sseut of blood tie said to himself:
Soho! These coTurdly natives not only
bring RE fresh mutton every evening 70 gain
ny good VIII, but tonight they have added
dessert smell fresh blood, and If that isn't
beef banging 70 tie limbs of the tree then my
eyes deceive INA Poor toolsl Do they think
/ will be content with this cheap supper when !
there sre fall grown cattle on the plaini
However, viii make closer investigation,
and"-
And we knew by the smothered roars that
he had fallen into the pit His astonishment 4
passed away in few minutes, and then his /
rage was something awful While we knew /
that he could not leap out Of the pit, having |
no room to gather for spring, we dared not |
TO near him in the darkness Next morning,
accompanied by about q hundred natives |
and, taking cage and ropes along. We made /
our way 10 the pit The sheep was stone I
dead-kiled by fright alone The hon had I
not yet reached him, but his near presence |
had been sufficient He heard US coming, |
and all tho rage in his royal breast began to |
boil Had the pit lacked q foot Of its depth |
ne would certainly have escaped Cra,aped /
as he was IN tho space, he had lespod up |