Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-01-24
age and GOODNESS I should have laughed

As soon as order had been restored the
three of us mounted our horses and, pre-
coded by five or six natives and theil
dogs, crossed the creek and took up thu
trail. After going about half a mile, we
discovered the lion sitting beside the
carcass in a little hollow. He was sit
ting up like adog, head turned toward
us, but as soon as he saw us divide he ran
of with his tail down, evidently
thoroughly alarmed, and such was his
speed that we soon lost him. We could
count on his returning to the body dur
ing the night, and tho natives were there
fore set to work to dig a pit and conceal
it. They regarded the lion as being as
cunning as he was wise, and the pit was
not dug near the body, but thirty feet
away from it. and in the direction in
which it was believed he would drag the
body. If a lion or tiger leaves a body
during the day and returns to it at night
the first act is to drag it some distance,
as if fearing an ambuscade. While the
rule is not inyarlable, it holds good in
most cases. During the night a dozen
lions scented around our camp. but with
out causing any alarm. and soon after
daylight the natives went out to inyesti-
gate the trap. No hunter ever
had such a windfall before or
since. As night came sew
eral lions must have scented the carcass,
and gathered for a feast. The rightful
owner OBJ ected, of course, and there
was a fight, the result of which was that
three full-grown males tumbled into our
pit. This fact did not prevent Others
from picking the carcass clean. One OF
the captives was the cheeky old fellow
who had entered our camp, and the
other two wer fully as large. In the
course of the forenoon We had them out
and in the cages, and two of them are in
the United states to-day in geological
gardens.
There are plenty of instances where
men have been seized by lions and lived
to relate the particulars, though no two
agree as to sensations. A week subse-
Quent to our capture of the three lions
| had been ont with some Of the natives
to prepare a bait in a rocky ravine. We
had built a stout pen of rocks and logs
and placed a calf as a bait. The sun
was nearly down as we started for camp,
and no one had the least suspicion of the
presence of danger until a lion, which
had been crouching beside a bush,
| sprang out aud knocked me down. In
springing upon his prey the lion or the
tiger strikes as he SEXES. This blow OF
the paw, if 1t falls on the right spot,
disables the victim at once. | was SO
near this fellow that he simply reared up,
seized me by the shoulder and pulled me
down, and | was fiat OIL the earth before
| realized what had happened. ] was on
my back, and he stood with both paws
on my middle, facing the natives and
growing savagely. The men ran off
about 300 feet and then halted, which
was dot btless the reason why / was not
carried oil at once. l can say without
conceit hat | was fairly cool. 1t had
come so suddenly that had not had time
to get ratified. / had been told by an
old Boer hunter, if | ever found myself
in this fix, to appeal to the lions tears.
Had | moved my arm to get my pistol,
the beast would have lowered his head
and seized my throat. So long rs | lay
quiet he would reason that / was dead,
and give his attention to the natives.
followed by a growl, and that beast
jumped twenty feet in his surprise. He
came down between me and the natives,
and | turned enough to see Tat his tail
was down and that he was
scared. l uttered further barks and
growls, but without moving a hand, and,
after making a circ'e clear around me,
the lion suddenly bol;ed and went off
with a scare which would last him a
week. If you had picked up a stick
and discovered it to be q snake you
would do as the lion did. He supposed
he had pulled down q man. The man
turned into a dog. 1t appealed to his
fears.
After the lion had gone I grew so
weak that | had to be carried to camp.
He had inflicted a pretty bad bite on my
shoulder, and it was IA fortnight before |
could hold my gun for an oif-hand shot.
/ had the presence OF a fourth captive
this time to console me, how
ever. No animal went near the calf the
first or the second night, but on the
third we captured a fine half. grown
male. and got him Gagged without trouble.
Curiously enough, he had offered the
calf no violence, being overcome by the
situation. and when we found him the
two seemed on the best of terms.
About four m nths later, on the
Orange River, / had a close call for my
life, with no one ut hand to aid me by
distracting the attention of the lion. /
had only one white n'an with me, and he
was i'll of fever. We had dug a pit on a
path frequented By lions coming down
to drink, but we're much ANNOYED by
animals falling into It. On the
first night we caught two hyenas; on
the second a panther; on. the third a
wild hog. These would have been prizes
had we not been after lions and lions
On the fourth night l stationed
q coupl, Of natives in a tree near the
path to brighten off all game but lions.
They were hunters. and knew the walk
of a lion from that of any other beast.
When going down to drink the lion
generally snuffs the air, probably to see
what game is abroad. On a rough path
tread is as heavy as a mans. and no
one who has hunted him need be afraid
of making a Ia istake. On this night,