Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-10-21
A GREENHORN'S SHOT.

There Is this difference between the hon
and the tiger In his native haunts: The tiger
will always fight; the lion viii often run
away. When a hunter has wounded tiger,
he can t.s dead sure that the beast is going to
make for him 10 secure revenge. When he
has wounded a ion, be can't be sure that the
beast won't sneak off like q whipped dog.
was in Cape Colony, Africa, and out On the
edges OF the Bcer district, twenty years ago,
when the lion had become alarmed at the evi-
dences Of civilization, but was yet nesitAfing
to withdraw further north. Along tbs edges
of the kaiahari dsert, to the west OF Cron-
stadt Potehefstrom and RustenburX, the
African lion once grew to bis greatest siA
and houris.ied at his best. He lived on the
fat OF the land, the natives let him severely
alone, and there was no one b dispute THAI
he was monarch of all be surveyed.
party Of eight OF Us had gone out from
Rsrstenburg to the west. being well provided
with horses, wagons, tents, provisions and
servants, and after a journey of three days
we eamped on the edge of a stream in beau
tifuI grove That night l heard wild lion
roar for the irst time. and it was by no
means sweet music to my ears A male lion
and his mate discovered our camp about mid
night, and for half an hour they seemed de-
10 Rtt Dtiu VI souic u oul hfC 1eAlAa
But for our camp fires and the volleys we
tired in the direction Of the unwelcome in
truders, we should certainly have lost one Of
the oxen, for the lions advanced within fifty
feet of the animals before they could Be
frightened off 1t filed us with enthusiasm
TO find that We had got into the lion country,
and we were up and doing at an early hour
next morning A mile to the south of US was
yt,- .4,.rl- tauylaI anil Il
Between that and the desert a strip Of
bad land about half mile wide. There were
u few punches Of plants and bushes, many
rocks and the ground was sprinkled with
bunch grass With the telescope we could
see animals of the antelope species feeding on
this strip; but while l was using the glass
they suddenly became alarmed and ran away,
going out of sight to the south.
In the forest was the place to look for lions
by day, or, at least, it was natural to believe
that they would retire to its cover during the
hours when wild beasts sleep. To the north
of US the bad lands continued on out Of
sight, but the forest was more open, being, in
fact. a succession of groves. We had two or
three natives with US of much experience in
lion hunting, and they gave US no encourage
ment to go out until toward shutdown. One
of the men had followed the stream back into
the forest for half mile, and there found
large POOL, at which it was evident that many
ANIMALS came to drink. Nothing worthy Of
a shot would come there by daylight. Al.
most every wild beast or animal Stakes it,
thirst at night, and only at night. 1t does
not seem to be u matter of choice with them
but law of nature. The spoor or trail Of
the two lions which had paid US a midnight
visit led to the south between the forest and
desert, and, as a heavy dew was falling when
they went away the trail could be followed at
a gailop Two of our hunters rode to the
north to try aud get shot at some hartbeests
Seen with the glass, another went up to look
around the pool and the remainder decided
not to move at all before afternoon. l de-
cided for u ride to the south, and left camp
with a heavy breechloading carbine across
my saddle. 1t wasn't to he depended on for
a long shot, but it would hit to kill, and it
carried a ball large enough to kill an ele-
phant.
| soon found the bad lands so bad that l
had to let my horse pick his way at a walk.
l kept pretty close to the edge of the forest,
knowing | stood better chance of sighting
something, and was a full mile from camp
when my horse suddenly halted, shifted the
air i'll a Suspicious manner, and stopped in his
tracks From his trembling l knew that he
was badly frightened, and l rose in my STIR
rups to look about for the cause. For a time
l could see no living object, but after a while
my eyes lighted on a tawnv mass on the
sands at the roots OF large bush. had q
field glass with me- and l no sooner brought
it to bear than | made out two lions They
were about forty rods away. and while the
male lay ON his back with his feet in the air,
as you have sometimes seen dog do, the
female was stretched out on her side. Both
had their heads from me, and were evidently
asleep
had had no experience in lion hunting,
and [ did not know how to act. Ny horse
showed strong disposition to bolt, and dis
mounted and made him fast to the limb Of
fallen tree which was half buried in the
sands. expected he would break away and
make for camp in case Of scrimmage, but
he was of little use to me on such bad ground.
When | had flushed with the horse saw
that my carbine was in order, pulled my re-
voiver around within handy reach, and
walked forward to get shot at the still
sleeping lious. There was nothing brave in
this. was simply greenhorn, and didn't
know better than TO take the chances. knew
l was II good shot and knew | had nerve,
ami felt that could best the pair no matter
what course they took. It was a very sultry
morning, and the shade Of the bushes was 20
grateful that the lions had fallen into deep
sleep. And why should they have felt any
fearsl In all that region the lion WINS king.
His roar sent every other beast to cover, and
his growl was menace to be needed and re-
spectej. | walked up to within thirty feet Of
the pair, and still they did not hear me nor
change position. | could not get such shot
as a hunter desires, but was bent on having
one. The male was nearest to me He was
cured up that he resembled a great ball Of
hair and drew head on the center OF the
mass, knowing that must hit him and that
the big bullet would give him a bad hurt.
Now, what followed the shot filed me with
establishment and wonder. Quicker than
fash the lion was on his feet, and frightful
roar from his throat blended with the report
of the gun There was snarl from the
LoDess, as she bounded into the air, and then.
without seeming to have seen me, or to have
ascertained what had happened, the lion ran
down the strip of open ground, while his mate
broke for the woOds. That he was hard hit
could tell by his gait. That she was a. rat
tied ms rabbit was easy to see by the way
she dragged her tail as she ran. had e.
pected sht aud was disappointed. fhs
male bounded over the broken ground fos
about eighty rods, and then went 10 cover IN
bush. and after the female rushed into The
wood gave her no further attention. Whilo
realized that a wounded lion was q danger
GUS foe. the cowardly conduct Of this fellow
in sill ising away as he had done emboldened
me, snd | started in pursuit I expected
every minute to see him leave the bush and
bolt for the forest. but he had different planA
When was half way to him turned out Of
the direct course to cut him of in case b
wanted to retreat kept on advancing
until was not more than ten rods from tho
bush. He was 50 well hidden that could
see nothing of him, even when I searched
with the glass, A random shot ought to
scare him up, and fired for the center Of tho
bush.
1t wasn't three seconds after pulled trig-
ger before the lion was coming for me full
tilt, his eyes blazing, his teeth showing and
his tail iashing the air like that Of mad bull
In such emergencies one does not stop to
think Nor 81 one afterward Just rememr
Der what tooA place All l know is that
put bullet into his bead when be was leao
than forty feet away, and that his momen-
tum brought him almost to my feet He had
ceased kicking in ten seconds, for there was .
hole above his eyes into which . baby could
have thrust lis fist and he had been grew
ously wounded By the other shot He was .
grand, big fellow, in the fun prime Of life,
and when came 10 examine his limbs was
astonishei at the tremendous muscular power.
had my foot on him when I heard shouts
and shots and q terrible scream from my
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