The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-02-12
BATTLING WITH a BAROoN.

IGrEluC hdnO-CO- EanQ encounter with
a South African Monster.
A writer in the Graf Reinet Advertiser
tells the following exciting adventure:
was walking through my lands and had my
gun with me, and the balloons were scream
ing on the top of the rocky precipice that
overhangs my homestead. The dogs in the
farm yard, on hearing the noise
the balloons were making, rushed up
to the mountain and were soon en-
gagged in deadly fight. took up my gun
and climbed up the mountain for the pur-
pose Of assisting the dogs and in the hope of
saving them from being torn to pieces
When I reached the summit of the krantz
number of baboons fed. i fired and
wounded one in the shoulder, he was i'm
mediately pursued and tackled by the only
dog left, the Others having been torn TO
pieces. The struggle for life or death was
taking place between the wounded baboou
and the dog on the very brink OF a preci-
pice. had not another cartridge for my
gun, so put it down and picked up a couple
Of large stones and walked to within few
yards of the spot.
/ was just in the act of hurting one of
them at the baboon, when suddenly q
tremendous male baboon, the largest | have
seen, came straight at me in a bold and de-
faint manner, his eyes cleaning with anger
and his huge jaws working together as If in
anticipation 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 violsnce that
| thought every bone in my leg was smashed
to atoms. l Kicked with all my might, 1
tried TO get hold of stone, l attempted to
seize him by the throat, dealt him several
blows with my fist, but it was all useless;
the strength of the enraged African man
drill overpowered me completely.
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
l do? Every now and then he 60 his
hold Of my breast and snapped at my throat.
seized him by the throat with nv right
hand and clinched my fingers, but he would
not yield his grasp for a single lnoment.
Every time l 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 foot
ing down we should 60 into the chasm be-
low. The wounded baboon and the dog,
that were responsible for the awful pre-
dicament in which l now found mysalf
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 l should not be able to hold out much
longer, as | am an old man, considerably
over 60.
At this stage bethought myself of pen
knife had in my waistcoat pocket. If
could only get it out, | might ward him of
by stabbing him in the face. | gradually
got the knife out, the brute scratching and
tearing my face with his hands all the
while. gotit 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. / drew blood, however, the
sight of which only made him more vicious
STILL By this time had scarcely a 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.
l was wondering how all this was going
to end, when one Of the dogs that had been
wounded in the fight aud 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
baboon 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 recover sufficient strength to
descend the mountain. l got home, how
ever, and the dog, too, after an encounter
such as l shall never forget, and the like of
which hope never to experience again.