Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-01-07
LION HUNTING.
STORIES OF ADVENTURES WITH
THE KING OF BEASTS.


500 Pounds Traps In which the Beasts
Are Taken AIive-sayed by Initiating
the Bark OF n Dog
We were once camped in a grove on the
bank of a creek, our party numbering over
thirty people We had horses, oxen wagons
and dogs, and were spread out over two acres
of ground Il was in the lion country, and
they might be expected to approach at night
but on the second afternoon of our camp
while all were engaged in cleaning up and
making repairs, an alarm was suddenly
raised. supposed that some of the animals
had stampedei, l, and ran around the wagon
to get clear view of the space between us
and the creek This creek was 200 feet away,
and was so rearly dry that one could step
across it. The bank on the other side was
rocky ground, pretty thckly covered with
scrub, and right on the brink stood one of
the largest lions ever saw He was out in
full view, head and tail uu, and stood so still
for moment that ! doubted if he was alive
There was 4 | ght breeze blowing toward
u.s. and as soon rs our animals got the scent
it required tie efforts of every native to pre-
vent them from breaking away. My guns
were being cleaned and oiled and my two
white companions were looking after their
horses. No one had the least idea that the
lion meant mischief, and we were presently
duInfounded to see him spring across the
creek and come walking into camp We
measured his leap and found it to be twenty
eight feet. He made it without an effort. |
was 70 the ri yht of him, and the center of the
camp was his objective point The lion ad-
vanced at walk, utterirg no sound, and the
shouts, screams and whoops of the men,
backed by tie bellowing OF thecattle and the
snorts of the horses, had no effect on him
COOL AND BUSINESS LIKE
We had new milch cow tied to the wheel
of one of the wagons, and the lion advanced
to within tn rty feet OF her, and then made a
spring which landed him fairly upon her
back. She fell in heap, and he seized her
by the neck, gave her two or three shakes,
which broke the grass rope around her head,
and he then got his right shoulder under her
and started of. The COW weighed at least
800 pounds, but he carried her with perfect
ease, her hind feet dragging on the ground
AT the creel; he made jump of eleven feet,
ascended n sloping bank without a halt, and
soon disappeared in the broken ground with
his prey He was gone before we had gun
ready. Indeed, we were lucky not to have
lost half our animals. | was no greenhorn
in the animal business at that date, but this
was the first time | had ever witnessed such
cheek in lion. Had | been told that he had
such courage and coolnesS | should have
laughed tn statement to scorn
As soon as order had been restored the
three of us mounted our horses and preceded
by five or six natives and their dogs, crossed
the creek and took up the trail. After going
about half mile we discovered the lion sit
ting beside the carcass in a little hollow. He
was sitting up like dog head turned to-
ward us, but as soon as he saw us divide he
ran off with his tail down, evidently
thoroughly alarmed, ana such was his speed
that we soon lost him. We could count on
his returning to the body during the night,
and the natives were therefore set to work
to dig 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
i'll which il was believed he would drag the
body.
If n hon or tiger leave q body during the
day and returns to it at night the first act is
to drag II some distance, as if fearing an am
buscade While the rule is not invariable, it
holds good in most cases. During tho night
a dozen lions scented around our camp, but
without causing any alarm, and soon after
the trap. No hunter ever had such a wind
fail before or since. AS night came several
lions must have scented the carcass, and
gathered for feast. The rightful owner OBJ
Jected, of course, and there was fight, the
result of which was that three full grown
males tuInbled into our pit. This fact did
not prevent Others from picking the carcass
clean. One of the captves was the cheeky
old fellow who had entered our camp and
the other two were fully as large In the
course of the forenoon we had them out and
in the ca ges, and two of them are in the
United States today in geological gardens.
There arc plenty of instances where men
have beer seized by lions and lived to relate
the particulars though no two agree as to
sensations A week subsequent to our cap
ture of the three lions had been out with
some of the natives to prepare a bait in a
rocky rayine We had built stout pen of
rocks AMI logs and placed calf as a bait
The sun was nearly down as we started for
camp, AMI no one had the least suspicion of
the prese nee of danger until lion, which
had been crouching beside bush, sprang out
and knoc Ied me down. In springing upon
his prey the lion or the tiger strikes as he
seizes This blow of the paw, if it 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 fat on the earth
before realized what had happened. l was
on my back, and he stood with both paws on
my middle, facing the natives and growing
savagely The men ran OFF about 800 feet
and then halted, which was doubtless the
reason why was not carried off at once. j
can say without conceit that | was fairly
cool. 1t had come so suddenly that / had not
had time to get ratified. | had been told bv
an old Boer hunter, if / ever found myself in
this fix, to appeal to the lions fears. Had l
moved my arm to get my pistol, the beast
would have lowered his head and seized nv
throat. So long as | lay quiet he would
reason 1hat was dead, and give his atten-
tion to the natives
All of a sudden barked out like a dog
followed by growl and that beast jumped
twenty feet in his surprise. He came down
between me and the natives, and turned
enough to see that his tail was down and
that he was scared. | uttered further barks
and growls, but without moving hand, and,
after m lking circle clear around me, the
lion suddenly bolted and went off with
scare which would last him a week. If you
had picked up stick and discovered it 90 be
a snake you would do just as the lion did.
He supposed he had pulled down man.
The man turned into dog. 1t appealed to
his fears
After the lion had gone | grew SO weak
that l had to be carried to camp. He had
inflicted pretty bad bite on my shoulder,
and it was fortnight before l could hold my
gun for an oifhand shot. 1 had the presence
Of fourth captive during this time to con-
sole me, however. No animal went near the
calf on 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 tho two seemed on
the bes of terms New York Sun.