Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1899-08-17
SHOT THE NANFATER DEAD
An Exciting Hunt for Big
Game in a Dense Afri-
can Jungle.
A SMALL BOY STOLEN
Experiences of the French Explorer
Fac, in Trailing an Animal
and Killing Him.

Whole Population of an African Viii
lage Turned Out to Take Revenge
on the Animals Dead Body-Per-
forated 1t With Spear Thrusts and
Cut OF Its Head.
The French explorer, M. Edouard
Foa, the author of the volume, From
the Cape to Lake Nyassa," is now pub.
fishing an account of his exploits as a
| lion and elephant hunter, which the
| French papers are printing conspicu-
ously. The following is his story of a
lion chase in Tchiromo:
I'VE found the trail behind the
house, which proved that the brute had
gone around it. With the trail there
were footmarks of a child. Evidently
he had been seized by the upper part
of the body. Then we found a few
| drops of blood The animal passed
| through one of the streets-if we may
call them streets-of the village, lead
| ing toward the river, going along with
his burden in front of more than twen-
ty huts. The inhabitants had not been
aroused by woman's cries until after
the beast had passed. Still following
the track, we reached the stream,
| where the animal halted and left his
prey beside him.
Before following the trail any further
| sent Tambarika to watch the outer
edge of the thick bushes and to find il
| there We're any traces of the animal
having passed through. A well-known
whistle from him notified us that such
was the case, so | took to the clearing
in order to get to him as quickly as
| possible. After running for short
distance through the tall grass we
came upon new pool of blood which
showed where the beast had stopped
again. Then we found ourselves in
little open plain still on the trail of
the nocturnal man-eater. After that
we entered a wood, where we discov-
cred clots of blood and the belt OF
pearls that the little fellow had worn
about his loins. After that we found
torn off by the bushes. pool of
blood indicated where the brute began
to tear up his victim.
FINALLY, on the opposite edge of the
wood we passed into the high grass,
where a terrible growl brought us tc
a sudden halt. There we listened. .
We knew that the animal was there;
but was he going to charge? We heard
nothing more. | cooked my gun and
kept within reach of my hand my six
charges Of buckshot cartridges. When
all was ready | advanced in the grass
with my hand upon the trigger, watch
ing closely and listening for the slight.
est sound. Ten metres before us we
heard the rustling of the long grass
and we saw the heads of ii waving
but nothing more. We continued tc
advance slowly. To the right there
was a tree. | made a sign to Kan.
bombe, who climi I'd it like a monkey
in a few jumps. Soon he was in the
trees fork and on the watch. The
child is here he said, but there is nc
lion Then turning to the right he
shouted: Here he is! Come this way!
Guided by his gesture | ran to the
right. Then / signalled to the natives
to follow us and with a movement OF
my arms l made them understand that
they were to watch the grass to the
left. / sent Rod2ani to tell them tc
make a noise so as to frighten the lion
toward me. Then l placed myself in
a little opening and remained motion
less, watching the bunch of bushes
from which I expected every moment
10 see tHS DTule tueIBG. han DOmDe
in the tree whispered: He's going
away. No, he is coming back now
He stops and looks in the direction OF
the men. Now he's coming your way
in a walk Here he comes! Here he
comes! Step back a little!'
"One may imagine the anxiety with
which | listened to these words. TAX.
ing his advice | stepped back two
PAGES. My men were behind me with
their arms ready. Don't fire except in
case of necessity said |. Don't be
in a hurry said Tambarika, The tall
grass moved forward like a wave and
the lion came out at about eight metres
from me, walking slowly and occasion
ally looking behind him. At last he
saw me. He stopped. showed his teeth
| growled and advanced without chang
| ing his course. At the same moment
he lashed his tail, lowered his ears
and seemed about to charge. Having
| followed him with my gun, | aimed
at the nape of his neck and pulled the
trigger. His legs bent as if they were
| rubber and he rolled over dead as g
log.
He was an old fellow of ordinary
| size and extremely thin. The child
| that he intended to devour was about
IA years old and must have been killed
the very moment he was seized, be
cause these felines never carry of
struggling prey unless they are obliged
TO do so by a surprise. We carried
back on an improvised litter the bodies
of the two actors in this nocturnal
| drama. That of the child showed deer
wounds which had torn the neck anc
the right shoulder, and on one of his
/ thighs the bone was laid bare. AS
for the body of the lion, when it was
brought to the village carried by eighi
men, the whole population attempted
to rush upon it with old guns, bow.
and spears. | shouted that the frs
one to touch the carcass before it was
skinned would make the acquaintance
of my cane. All the population sal
down in a circle waiting patiently un
til Tchigallo. aided by Rodzani ant
Msiambiri, finished their work. Their
they rushed upon the body, filled il
with projectiles, perforated it with
spear thrusts and dragged the remains,
| through all the neighboring villages