San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1894-04-21
sKETcHlNG THE LIONS.
And How They Displayed Their Anger 1t
the Process.

At Pretoria, in the TIansvaal, our expe-
dition was joined by Mr.. Tuft, an artist
connected with the London Illustrated
News. When we had crossed the Vaal riv-
er and were in the lion country, the artist
one day got the idea that he wanted a GER
tain sketch from which to make paint
ing when he returned home. He had
sketched our captive lions as we took
them from the pits, but what he sighed
for was a group of free lions by moonlight.
That he might carry out his idea we had
the natives erect a house of observation
for him on the edge of a sandy plain.
Four stout posts were set in the ground,
and at distance of IL feet from the earth
crosspieces were dashed to them and cage
~ feet square built up. This cage was Of
the height of a man, and the bars were
of hard wood inches wide and 2 inches
thick. 1t was just such cage as we built
to hold full grown black rhinoceros.
We had captured two lions in pits before
the period of the full moon arrived. 1t
had been noticed that of all the lions ap-
preaching our camp the most of them came
from the desert, which ran back 10 miles
to a range of hills. One evening, when
the right time had come, accompanied
Mr.. Tuft TO the cage, having agreed to
bear him company through the night. We
took provisions and bedding, but no fire.
arms. 1t was calculated that the cage
could defy anything except an elephant,
and we did not wish to kill lion as long
as there was any chance of capturing him
alive for Hagenbeck. We got into the cage
by means of a ladder and door, and the
natives bol Soorna1v iioo han
night came and the moon was with us. 1t
was so light that we could see ants on the
ground below us, and the eye could have
detected man on the plain as far as at
monday.
At about s o'clock we heard three diff
erent lions roar but for the next two hours
everything was so quiet we feared that
the beasts suspected some trap and would
not show up on that side of the camp. We
were both lying on our backs and indulg-
ing in a quiet smoke when | felt rather
than heard the tread of some animal and
carefully rose up on my elbow. Right in
front of us, not over so feet away, was
a family of lions-father, mother and two
cubs, though one of the cubs was half
grown. The four stood side by side, facing
us, and had come up as quietly as rabbits.
"Goodw whispered the artist as he
reached for pencil and paper. "They are
not grouped as artistically as / could
wish, but it is an opportunity no man ever
had before. Ali The old chap is down.
That's 90 per cent BETTER See! The little
fellow moves around on the other side Of
the mother! Was ever anything more ar
tistic' I'll donate key of rum to your
niggers il those lions will only stop right
there for 10 minutesr'
You may have seen the painting he aft
erward made and called 1.-The Lions at
Home" 1t was a faithful reproduction
of the pencil sketch made there by moon
light as we looked into the great yellow
eyes of the four beasts. They stood for
eight or ten minutes almost without NOV
ing, or three of them did, while the ia
ther lay stretched at full length on the
sands. Then their curiosity was satisfied.
They had figured out two white men in
cage, and the question was how to get at
them. The old lion suddenly rose up and
uttered roar which lasted fully so sec
onds. While he was thus engaged the lion
ess paced to and fro, and the cubs jumped
back and forth over her When the roar
ceased, the lion began to switch his tail,
and as his eyes grew red l whispered to
Mr.. Tuft:
"Move back-move back-he's coming
for usr
He came as IL shot out of a cannon and
struck the cage at about the center. One
forepaw passed between the bars and claw
ed at us, and as he hung there for a min
ute his growls made shivers chase over us.
He dropped down with a snarl aud walked
,kN - T.
coming again, and we crowded to the bars
on the other side. At distance of 10 feet
from the posts he made his spring, and
this time he landed on the roof above our
heads. The rise was IS feet, but he made
it without an effort. Had the construc-
ton of that cage been left to the lazy and
shiftless natives alone the lion would have
come crashing down upon US. The roof
had been made even more secure than the
sides, the logs being heavy and well fas-
tened. The weight of the lion raging back
and forth threatened to uprOot the posts,
but luckily for Us he did not tarry long
When he leaped down, he began circling
about us at distance of 10 feet, appar-
emily sCrUtiniZing every single bar, and
after he had made one circuit the family
joined him and the four made the circuit
Is times by count.
At length they retired about 20 feet
away for consultation. How the lion com
municated his ideas was not plain, as he
uttered no sound, but all of sudden the
four made a rush for the cage. Three Of
them reached the bars, but the baby lion
fell short. The trio hung there for fully
two minutes, clawing, biting and seem
ingly expecting their weight and strug-
giles to pull the cage Off the posts, but one
by one they finally dropped down The
next move was also made after plain
understanding among the quartet The
cubs lay down on the ground, heads to-
ward US and ears pointed forward, and the
father and mother made swift and 81
mnltanemms rmsh- and hnth landaa ON the