The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1888-01-18
Two Lion Stories.

iNO ihVh CtOi itSs
An adventure such as any wide
awake boy in the land ought to be in
terested in befell Mr.. Parker Gilmore,
the noted naturalist, in the country Just
to the north of Crocodile river, South
Africa. Let us briefly, but with spirit,
tell of this adventure. The morning
of the day was remarkable. A storm
came furiously up, and the men, horses,
bullocks and dogs of Mr.. Gilmore's
party halted. Thunderbolts fell with
such appalling frequency that Mr.. Gill
more unyoked the bullocks and took
the chains off the wagon-tongue, lest
the iron should conduct the electric
fluid to the wagon, in which were stored
bags of gunpowder to the weight of two
hundred pounds. Then came rain in a
perfect downpour An hour later the
hurricane had passed to leeward,
whence at intervals came the deep
boom of retreating thunder. That
evening clouds again came down, so
that the party went into camp on the
plain. ThOrn-bushes were cut, the
horses and bullocks were corraled,
watch-fres were kindled, and Mr.. Gill
more, snug in his bed in the wagon,
began to read by the light of lantern.
But something was wrong. The ami
mails were uneasy. The bullocks stood
facing the wind and their eyes were
wide open. The dogs skunk behind the
fires. The natives were under the
wagon. "There are lions ahout,n said
one of the natives: and he put more
fagots on the fire. Mr.. Gilmore asked
his Bechuana boy William why the
dogs did not bark The boy answered:
elf one or two lions are here dogs
bark; but think that there are seven
or eight and that they are scattered
around about us, so that the dogs are
afraid to 90 into the bush" 1t was
also learned from the natives that the
lions like to hunt in families. The duty
of the old lion is to shake his name to
the windward of a herd, and thus cause
the animals TO stampede. When an old
lion shakes his name the scent scares
the bullocks and they run away from
it, But the other lions of the family
are in waiting to the leeward, so that
the fleeing creatures run into the trap.
Well, the lions had been made bold by
the thunderstorm, and they kept close
to the camp, until at last the lion to the
windward succeeded. Three bullocks
broke away from the camp and ran in
alright out on the plain. AS soon as
they had bolted the old lion was seen
to run around the camp in order to join
the other lions and get his share of the
game. But he came too close to the
fires for his own good. He passed
within the space lighted by the fires,
and before he got away Mr.. Gilmore
sent two rifle-balls into his body After
day break the hunters went out on the
plain, where they found the bones of the
three bullocks. Traces of the wounded
lion were seen, and at last Mr.. Gilmore
found him skulking in the shelter of the
bush. He showed fight and came out
Says the hunter: "The gallant beasts
head was down, his lips curled upward,
so as to show his formidable tusks,
while his tail, as stiff and straight as a
crowbar, was erected aloft. | aimed
between his eyes, and ere the smoke
had drifted away from the muzze of
my smooth-bore the hero lay extended
at length"
While Mr.. Gilmore was in the same
lion country three natives came up to
him. They were in great glee. They
cubs were about the size of six
months-old kitten-dear little creatures
that would 90 into scbool-boy's satchel.
The natives gave an interesting ac-
count of themselves. They were herds
men. While driving cattle the even
ing before a ioness had stalked them,
and they had shot her with an arrow
tipped with poison. The natives in
South Africa extract poison from the
caterpillar and other poison they get
from the glands of the cobra or puff
adder. The three herdsmen thought
that they had wounded the lioness, and
the next morning they started out to
seek the carcass. But they found nc
dead lioness, though they came upon
something that pleased them better
still. In the search they found the two
cubs, which were in hole scooped in
the bank of dry water-course. Mr..
Gilmore was handling the cubs when
lioness roared in the distance The
little Bush boy who was with Mr.. Gill
more cried out: " Here comes mai,
He called every mother " ma" And
the lioness was coming, poor thing,
She was at full speed and roaring al
every jump. Up to that time the wee
beasties had kept quiet, but the voice
of their dam set them wild. They
scratched and bit till the herdsmen had
to put them on the ground. Mean
while the lioness had halted, but as
soon as she heard the cries of the
whelps she charged, open-mouthed and
almost flying with velocity, straight al
the men. Mr.. Gillmore's first shot
staggered her, the second shot broke
a shoulder and the third sent the poor
beast quivering to her death. Mr.
Gilmore bought the cubs, paying foI
them in powder and lead. One was
named Leo and the other Juno. HI
took the pets to England with him, anC
they became known as the tamest lions
in London. Golden Dams.