The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1894-05-24

| W nen lions drink from pool o.
basin they Will approach it from an,
side where they can reach the water
When they drink from a running
stream they generally select some par
tlcular spot. that is if remaining any
length of time in the neighborhood
( Every wild beast or animal leaves his
scent as he stands or walks. and &
/ lion will not stand on the scent of an
| antelope and drink from running
/ stream. After a considerable hunt
found the spot where the lions ap-
preached the stream and | could not
find the track of any other animal
near it. 1t was at spot where they
had a clear view up and down and
across. and there were tufts Of hair
blowing about to show that they had
enjoyed a roll in the sand. In return
ing to camp | kept down on the north
bank OF the stream, seeing that my
horse could ford it anywhere without
swimming. ] had not gone above
sixty rods from the ford, and was
riding at walk, when | passed a
bunch of scrub, and lion sprang out
with an ugly growl. He stood glar-
ing at me for a minute or two at a
distance of not more than ten feet. and
l saw that he was pretty old and bad
ly used up. His cheek and under lip
were torn and bloody, and he could
hardly put his left fore foot to the
ground. He had no doubt been en-
gagged IN a row with some other lion
during the previous night and got the
worst OF it. His appearance was SO
unexpected that | could do nothing
but stare at him for the first minute.
He was more ratified than |. however.
Tor at the first move [ made to use my
rifle, he uttered whine. and was off
at his best space. disappearing over a
rocky ridge about forty rods to the
east. was glad to get rid of him so
easily, and pursued my way to camp
without further halt or adventure.
There We're two ways which prom
Ised Us success IN capturing lions, and
we arranged to try both of them |
had three large bear traps made on
purpose to hold this sort Of game, and
these We're took over and set about the
drinking place, each one being hidden
under the soil and fastened to stake
driven firmly into the ground. To the
east OF the spot where we cOTalled
our cattle we dug four pits about four
feet deep. The soil was stit1ish there
and would not cave into the excava-
ton. These pits We're on a line with
each other, and about twenty rods
apart. They were four feet wide and
eight feet long, looking more like
graves than anything else Each one
was covered over with light canes and
grass and then light C, vering of
sand hid all traces of our work. /
felt sure we should have a captive be
fore daylight came again, but storm
Of thunder and lightning and rain
ragged from slindown to long after mid
night. and the hyencs seemed to be
the only animals astir When | rode
over to ,he traps | could not find the
track Of single lion about.
The next night was fair and star
light, and the sun had scarcely gone
down when we heard the roar of
hon. About an hour after dark a
among the cattle proved
that the feiines were skulking about.
and | took my rife and went among
the herders and cautioned them not
to fire a musket, unless absolutely
necessary to prevent an attack. From
the northern edge of the corral [
could see three lions moving about
over the plain a male female and a
half grown cub. They acted as YOU
have seen a cat when approaching
bird on the ground, but after bit the
male got scent Of me. and stood still
and began to roar. As nearly as |
could make out, he was close to one
Of the pits. and [ fired over his head
to scare him. The bullet cut very
close to him, and he sprang sideways
with fierce grOWl. Next moment we
heard a muttied roaring. and the ma
lives cried out that the lion had fallen
into the pit. | felt sure this was the
case from the way the other two acted.
" e could see them running around in
a circle, aud they kept up great
whining and growing. we fired up-
on them after d bit and drove them
oil. and the night passed without
lion coming near us. As soon as 1t
was light enough to see some of the
men went out and found a big lion at
the bottom of one of the pits. When
| got my first look at him lie was sit
ting on end like dog, his ears cock
ad forward, and looking up with eyes
full OF curiosity. When we gather
ed around him after breakfast, how
ever, he soon got mad, and made up
his mlndto give Us fight. Ifhe had
bad the room | think ne could have
leaPed out Of the pit. Cramped as he
was he could make an astonishing
effort at it, and after every failure his