Orange County observer., 1897-07-01
FED TO A STARVING LION
FrtEhtfni Punishment Of an A..A..ia i,
Zau.ihar

Frightfni Punishment OF an A..A..ia in
Zanzibar.
The punishment dealt ont Ia tns If
The persons concerned in III. recent
murder of the Italian Coasul IN Zanz,-
tar. has a: last become known hv
means Of private letter which an
Italian ofhcer wrote ~ 81 friend IN
Modena~ The officer saws tha. IN or
der so strike horror into the nesre of
the natives ii was decided Ia enar. a
form OF punishment sha. the ancient
Romans nsed Ia apply III cxirem.
cases,
The culpris, Somaii soldier, vas
brought before the Consulate, and
9lk NE - sss.sss IS; ses
of with = hatchct After that the peo-
pie were hidden III munn. the roofs
and walls looking out upon the inclo~ed
court yard Of the official residence. As
soon as they had taken their stands IT.
bleeding Somalr was thrust into ,ae
open space ani the gate, closed he
hind him. After "A little while cage
was pushed into the enclosure n Gag.
the late Signor Cochis collection of
ferocious beasts
The front door of the cage was IN
locked and as the animal smcllei
blood, he easily pushed II open with
stroke Of his paw. then leapeel for~
with "A tremendous bound
a cry Of terror arose at TINS mo-
ment from hundreds Of throais. ,>,n
tinues the letter, hut above al IcoulI
distinguish the plaintivc voice of tho
Somah implorlng mercy Inshi~ pitt
ful state the poor victim of a eracson,e
law shouted 10 his God for speedy
dellverance. and again asked his
T executioners for speedy death hv
bullet. The suspense lasted minute
or two, while the lion, who hal been
fasting for several DAYS. walked aronnd
the miserable bundle II humanity of
which he was 10 make his meal In
doirg So his eyes were ai'ame and his
tail was whizzing viclouslv through
: iEe air. his foaming mouth stirring up
the sand on the ground
Then he withdrew Ia the cage.
about fifty feet away. aud stood still.
eyeing his victim his mane raised and
trembling He remained In that posi-
tion ten or fifteen seconds. then leap.d
with unerring Judgment upon tho
Somali, who was chasing franticallv
around in the yard, trying in vain
doors and windows.
1.-The Taurus landed square ON the
| natives shoulders, and the next mo-
| ment the poor fellow was on his face,
while the animal was tearing his
clothes and flesh in ta,ters aud bury
| ing his teeth iii his neck
The native audience had mcanw hiie
! grown frantic with excitement See
| ing that the king Of beasts was about
To kill their friend and thus abruptly
stop the sport. they hurled knives
! and daggcrs ST the lion and actually
succeeded IN arresiing Isis attention
for while for he raised hi~ head
! streaming with blood and shot de;i-
ant glance. while roaring with rac.
| and holding down with one front paw
the quivering form of the man
Now dagger struck him ~ the
forehead, which caused him Ia bel|nw
with pain and renew his attack upon
the body But the mi-sic4 fell thick
and furlous. and IL escape them tn"
lion dragged his victim. " hn was still
alive. "a the action of his arms aud
feet showed, behind ~ on'it.use.
where he tore the Snina}l - piece aui
then deyoured the bods raf.nously
The execution lasted fully tn ulu-