Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-03-24
FIGHTING WITH A BAROON,
A Mans Desperate Hand-to- hand Rsftl4
With a Monster Anthropoid.

With a Monster Anthropoid.
was walking through nv lands and
had my gun with me. and the balloons
were screaming on the top of the rocky
precipice that overhangs my home
stead. The dogs in the farmyard. on
hearing the noise the balloons were
making. rushed up to the mountain
and were soon engaged in a deadly
fight. | took up my gun and climbed
up the mountain for the purpose of as
sisting the dogs and in the hope of saw
ing them from being torn TO pieces.
When [ reached the summit OF the
krantz a number of balloons fed. 7
fred and wounded one in the shoulder;
he was Immediately pursued and
tackled by the only dog left, the others
having been torn to pieces. The strug-
Gle for life or death was taking place
between the wounded baboon and the
dog on the very brink of a precipice.
| had not another cartridge for nv
gun. so Iput it down and picked up
couple of large stones and walked to
within few yards of the spot.
l was Just in the act of hurting one
tremendous male baboon. the largest
| have seen. came straight at me in
bold and defiant manner. his eyes
cleaning with anger and his huge
jaws working together as if in antici-
patton of the crunching that was in
store for me. l just had time to hurl
the stone in my now appraised hand at
him, when he was upon me. He seized
me by the leg first, and bit me with
such violence that l thought every
bone in my leg was smashed to atoms.
L kicked with all my might tried to
get hold Of q stone. | attempted to
seize him by the throat, dealt him
several blows with the fist, but it was
all useless; the strength of the enraged
African mandril overpowered me COM
pIetely.
After he had finished with my leg he
raised himself on his hind legs, put his
arm around me and seized hold of me
on the chest with his powerful jaws.
What could I do? Every now and
then lie let 90 his hold of my breast
and snapped at my throat. I seized
him by the throat with my right hand
and clinched my fingers, but he would
AiOC y lSit iIH Do IOI Slu9Ie ulO-
ment. Every time | moved he dragged
me nearer to the edge of the precipice,
and we were now within three feet of
the brink and the ground sloping down
to it. | knew that if | for a moment
lost my footing down we should 90
into the chasm below. The wounded
baboon and the dog, that were re-
sponsible for the awful predicament in
which | now found myself, had just
rolled over into the abyss. We had
been at it nearly an hour, and, as the
baboon showed no signs of releasing
me, | felt | should not be able to hold
out much longer, as | am an old man,
considerably over So.
At this stage | bethought myself of
4 penknife | had in my waistcoat
pocket If ! could only get it out, |
might ward him off by stabbing him
in the face. | gradually got my left
hand into my pocket and got the knife
out, the brute scratching and tearing
my face with his hands all the while
| got it to my mouth and held it there
till | had an opportunity of opening it
with my left hand. / then began
stabbing and prodding him, but the
knife was not large enough to do him
much damage. I drew blood, how
ever. the sight of which only made
him more vicious still. BY this time [
had scarcely vestige of clothing left,
and my lacerated body bore tokens of
what South African baboOn can do
when he chooses to tackle and fight an
unarmed man.
was wondering how all this was
going to end, when one of the dogs that
had been wounded in the fight and
had recovered sufficiently to make his
way to where we were, seized the
animal from behind. l felt the brute
wished to get at the dog. He threw
himself from me upon the dog; they
had one rough-and-tumble, and then
the hah0on walked sullenly away along
the ridge of the precipice looking back
from time to time as if undecided
whether he should renew the attack.
1t was some time before | could re-
cover sufficient strength to descend
the mountain. | got home, however,
and the dog, too, after an encounter
such as | shall never forget, and the like
of which | hope never to experience
again Graft RCinet A3UeyfiSer