Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1898-05-05

rider and bore man aud horse To the
ground The trooper was not pursued.
aud when he returned To ~ lidut1 and
reported what bad occurred, "a squad ot
- men was ordered out. TN reaching
the spot where the tragedy had oe
eurrsd they found plenty Of Evidences
scattered around. bat II WAS not until
next day hat they found she hoaIes II
man and horss. The lion had Killed the
mail rider by a blow Of his paw.
smashing the >ku.i over the right eur.
The mex Of the horse was brokeu- The
man had been picked and carried along
the ruad for halt 4 mite ard then huug
aside. The body of the horse. which
weighed about Loco pounds, had been
dragged through the bushes a distance
OF - rOGs and partly ds,oured. NJ
one spot where Il ratiue seven ieet Wide
crossed the lions path. he had lifted the
body clear IT the ground and leapcd
across with u.
This Wis the be ginning ~ a series of
adventures and tragedies which made
the big Hon faHuIs m many laus!s.
Forty soldiers from each garrison were
detailed To hunt him down, aud were
assisted by -u0 natives. Tie hunt was
kept up for two weeks, during which
time the lion killed three natives. two
soldiers. and four horses. and escaped
uuNouudsd. From the first II was
realized that he was n queer beast.
lie never roared at night nor growlesi
when ,pringiUg NJ his victims Not
w~ithstaudiug his great sire. he moved
with the celebrity of a kitten and the
craft Of a fox. While the soldiers were
booking for him ia front he would ap-
pear in the rear aud Kill i mar OF horse
ard be OIL without noise. one night he
crept between the ca-mP-seutiuels who
were wide awake and only so feet
apart, aud penetrating TO the center of
the camp and being obliged TO leap
over a dozen sleeping men, he seized a
corporal who waS smoking beside a fire
and carried him OIL. The poor soldiers
cries alarmed the camp, bat the lion
got safe away lie did not kill the
man to satisfy his hunger. but dropped
the body after carrying il half 4 mile.
In no case did he eat auy of his human
victims, but would sometimes devour
almost the entire body Of Il horse. Aft
er 4 fortnight or so the natives re
fused To render any further assistance.
claiming that the beast was possessed
OF IN evil spirit and even understood
nil that was said about him. The sol
diers could accomplish nothing without
them. and the hunt was therefore
abandoned for a time
During this interval of about 20 davs
the lion visited 4 native village called
Shokko and killed two men, three wom-
en-. a boy and five head OF cattle. He
entered the place just after dark, and
his work WAS completed and he had
vanished before any general alarm was
raised. He simply trotted through the
village from east to west and knocked
people aside as he went. After killing
the cattle he picked up u dog and ear
ried the eur over i've miles before drop-
ping il. Three nights later he visited
another village &c miles from the first,
and, leaPing In among the live stock,
over a fence u feet high. he killed two
oxen, three cows. two goats and Il Ion
key \ herder saw him as he entered
and left the inclosure. and he declared
thatthe lion did his work inside of three
minutes.
The excitement now spread to all
villages within 80 miles Of Mount Mas
s.na. and the soldiers were about to
be ordered out again. when a party OF
French hunters arrived from Port ST.
Louis, on the coast. They numbered
six. and as they made ready to hunt
down the beast they were Joined BY
four officers from the garrison& By
the offer Of large brides about 20
natives were induced to lend their as