The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1891-04-23
A PAIR OF PET LIONS.
Amusing Antics Of tho Young Ter-
rorD Of tho Forest
An African Traveller Gives IN Intsreetine
Account of Their Capture eod
ouhssquenS A1lschSsvoas
ConAnOt,

Previous TO making up-country tyipe
IN South Africa" ssys : writer In foe.
ct and Stream, II always laid IN > sup
ply Of calico dresses and pound pack!
sges Of ton 70 servo . presents for tho
wives Of the Beers II the outlying do,
tricts. Tea Il used By them only m'
cases. Of sickness. and tho Donation Of .:
calico dress Il always met By a inter-
change Of dairy and hen-roost products.
In one Of my trips, while In the neigh
borhood Of IN old vrouw, finding that
The lsrder needed replenishing, I Jumped
on my shooting pony and cantered To-
her house, followed by my Kafir hench-
man. January. carrying . basket con-
tanning the ten and dress. The noise:
Of my pony's hoofs on tho sun-balxed
earth caught the old lady's ears and she
met mo at the door with the exclama-
ton:
"I'm SO glad you have GOMEZ
"'Why?'
"'Because I have . pair Of young
lions for you
"'Where are they?'
Knocking about the house some.
where
II immediately dismounted, handing
tho reins TO January; started indoors,
and finally brought up In the kitchen,
where found the whelps asleep on the
hearth. On asking how they were cap
tured she informed me that some two
weeks previous her son had shot . lion
ess, and, finding her In milk, hunted
around until he picked up the young
sters. immediately bargained for
them, with the understanding that they
were 70 b given Ill the milk they would
drink, mot teased, and kept until my Ne
turn, some three months ahead. Tho
tea and dress were then produced, and
January had to enlist tho services Of
one Of the farm Kaf{irs to assist In car
rying to the wagons the butter and
eggs which were received in exchange.
ION my return I found the lions had
been partially weaned, which was for
tunate, rs 1t would have been impossi-
BILE to get fresh milk for them daily.
Taking them in my arms, started to-
ward my cart, which had been driven
up In front Of the house, for the purpose
Of throwing them on my bed; but the
oxen bolted on catching scent Of them,
and it required . deal Of patience
before they would allow them TO Be
loaded On coming up with my train Of
wagons loaded with antelope, gums,
ETC.. tho cart was prudently kept some
distance In the rear, for fear Of stam-
pede Of the teams. and Il was fully
week before the oxen became thorough
II accustomed 10 lion odor.
I'VE had reached the moro thickly
settled portion Of the country, whom
ono day, just . We weso outspsnning.
> couple Of young Beers cantered up 70
tho wagons. ono Of whom carried . Ane
chacma seated behind him. On dis
mounting the reins wero handed 70 the
baboon, which had seated himself lust
In front Of the horses, and I started for
the cart In search Of the square rigger'
- O., gin dasle-in order 10 pave tho
way TO purchasing the baboon. On
reaching II the heads of both wholps
appeared, expecting to be lifted out, a.
was customary. On catching sight OF
them the baboon gave q scream, the
horses snort Of terror, and each one
took separate path across the veldt,
followed by pair of disappearing
Beers. I saved my gin, but lost the
chance Of buying hne chacma, and
sullily refused to Join in the usual
frolic.
''The trip home was made without
further incident, and on arriving the
were allowed the run Of the
house, but ut night they would persist
in sharing my bed with me. After hav-
ing been nearly smothered by trick
which they had OF lying across my face
I finally compromised matters by ar
ranging cot alongside my bed with .
stout wire screen intervening. Ofcourse
the arrival Of the young lions was soon
noised about. and did not lack COM
pany, especially on Sunday afternoons,
when my establishment resembled q
miniature geological garden, and the
female whelp seemed to select Just such
to play pranlks on the bipeds
Of her own sex.
'Her favorfte ambush was under the
table Of the dining-room, the door Of |
which opened on the passageway
through the house. So long as men
passed she would remain quiet, but as
sure as single woman or party Of |
Them attempted to pass through she
would spring ont and crouch just In |
front OF them, invariably causing q
hasty retrogradc movement, accom-
panied by series Of screams. Once,
while in the rear, giving some directions
10 the Kaffirs, was startled by pierre
ing shrek, and turned just in time to
see frightened female dart out OF the
back door and come at racing speed |
toward me. In SO doing she had to
pass directly under tree in which was
chained a baboon.
$50 soon as she was fairly under it the |
brute dropped on to her shoulders,
off her bonnet and wrap and |
was up on his perch in a jiffy. She
dropped in dead faint, and before I |
could dash some water into her face and |
bring her to her senses the bonnet and
wrap were torn into shreds, and on
looking toward the house saw the |
head of the lioness lying over the door
sill seemingly enjoying the mischief she
had wrought.
ION another occasion, hearing series
of suppressed screams in the house, I
hurried in and found trio of young
ladies' standing on the dining table, with
their skirts pulled up, while the lioness
was crouched on the floor just in front
of them, whislking her tail and acting
precisely as II she intended to spring up
md occupy portion Of their retreat.
Picking her up carried her into my
bedroom, and on my return found thAt
Tho young ladies had managed to get
down without any assistance, and were
hurrYing out tho front door without |
saying good-by."
The Prosldent's Flag.