The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1898-10-13

lion standing near an ant-heap close
by the kraal. l looked, and saw two
dark objects-one on either side Of the
ant-heap. To the left, what I took for
3 bush-as it seemed much too large
for a lion-was all l could see; to the
right, what might easily be a crouch
ing lion attracted my notice. l fired at
the latter-the light went out, and all
was quiet. Another light revealed the
smaller object still there, and it is so
still for all know-but the larger one
had disappeared. 1 had fired at the
wrong one!
The next attempt only gave us a
glimpse as his body glided to covert
from behind the kraal. He evidently
didn't mean to give us another chance
that night, so We decided to retire to
rest-but not to sleep-and make a fur
Their attempt at grey dawn, in the hope
of getting a shot before he had reached
the impenetrable bush behind the sta
ton, where it would be impossible to
get at him.
Yet once more Mr.. Baldwin called me
from the world of sleep as he opened
the door Of the hut. This time, how
ever, he said nothing, but looked a
great deal. I uttered one short but
expressive syllable as l realized that
the sun was already high in the heav-
ems, and the chance of coming up with
the lion very remote indeed. The ami
NAL, Mr.. Baldwin told me, had actually
eaten his way through stakes as thick
as a mans arm in order to gain en-
trance to the kraal. He had, of course,
dragged away the carcass, and must
ere this have reached his lair. We
found, as the boys had reported to Mr..
Baldwin, that a hole had been eaten
through the palisade. and at the far
side a larger opening through which
the surviving terrified animals had
made their escape. A groove in the
sandy soil showed the line along which
the carcass had been dragged. Accom-
panied by three boys, we followed the
spoor until, after traversing some five
hundred yards only, we came upon the
remains of the Ok lying at the entrance
OF a tunnel through dense thorn bush.
NO lion was to be seen, though there
was but little doubt that the marauder
was within a few yards of his prey. A
growl soon disclosed his whereabouts,
and as it anne from behind a wall oil
bush only a few PAGES in front, fred
at where l calculated the animal stood,
rearing That he would not venture into
the open with so much covert at his
disposal. There being no response Or
sound of movement, l left Mr.. Baldwin
and the boys and commenced to skirt
the wall Of thorn with the object of
attacking him in his retreat. l had
reached the OK, from which l was sep
arated by a few thorns, when an alb
normally large lion cantered down the
tunnel" and stood for a momen look
ing at Mr.. Baldwin. The bush would
not allow me to get my rifle round be-
fore the lion, catching sight of me
time, turned round and trotted back to
covert. l then continued the 1anking
movement, until a brownish back
ground, beyond a s~malhopening in the
thorns, arrested my advance, and /
could determine whether ! saw a small
piece of lion or of an ant-heap or bark
less tree. A movement of a dark spot,
after l had been watching for some
seconds, told me that what l had in
front of me must be the lion, and that
the spot must be his nose or his Aear,
of which, according as he was
me or standing sideways, made
an excellent bulls eye for a brain shot.
| raised my rifle and took a careful
report-a sudden movement of
the fawn mass-and all was still again. |
On examining the carcass it was found
the bullet had passed up the right
and through the brain crashing
through the atlas vertebra and resting
under the skin. Measurement showed
him to be much above the average, his
length from mhzzle to tip of tail being
g feet 10 inches, and his standing
height, taken between assegais, from
the pads of his heels to the shoulder
just 43 inches. In shoulder
measurement only one larger seems to
have been b~agged-one shot by Mr..
Selous, which scaled A inches. His
name, unfortunately, left much to be
desired. With the aid of a long pole
and several natives he was carried into
the station. There was great rejoicing
among the natives that Sunday morn
ing, who c~ongregated in large numbers
and finished up by eating the carcass of
their fallen foe, Notwithstanding the
fact that two of their women-folk were
entOmbed therein.-A. s. II. Gibbons.