The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1900-02-06


the carcass of the donkey. When we
reached the spot we were delighted to
discover that the lion had been there
shortly before our arrival, his great
tracks showing plainly in the tell-tale
sand. We followed these in hot haste,
and soon an excited exclamation from
the Zulu told me that tho game was
close at hand. The spoor now led
towards dense thicket of wait q bit
thorns, about two hundred yards in
diameter, which We approached with
extreme caution.
Lion there, sure, sahib," wills.
pered Gan in Zulu, adding that l
should approach from the front, while
he went around to the rear, to inter.
cept him in case he tried to pass
through. AS / approached the
thickct, with the hammer of my gun
drawn, / could at first see nothing. ]
was about to call to Gan when L sud.
denly made out the backs of two
large, yellow animals in the grass.
and a moment later discovered that
there were two Cubs with them. They
were evidently disturbed, but were
gazing in the direction taken by Gan,
apparently not having noticed me.
n moment later n fine lion sprang out
into the open, and seeing me less than
fifty PAGES away, gave q low growl
aud disappeared into the thick brush.
The other, lioness, stood looking
about, evidently reluctant to leave hel
cubs. She was cycling me closely,
and it required Il great deal of effort
to enable me to scrape up enough
courage to approach nearer. As L did
so, she turned and ran about ten feet
to thick clump of grass, in which
she crouched so low [ could only see
her head.
A lions yellow eyes are singularly
impressive, especially if you happen
to be watching them some thirty yards
distant, with nothing but the open,
level ground between. They incline
one to great deal of discretion, and
it was with extreme caution that
| slowly approached her, her eyes fol
lowing my every movement and watch.
ing intently on my part for the first
sign of q coming charge. When had
reached IL point about fifteen yards
from her L concluded that [ had bet
ter open hostilities, and taking q very
careful aim at her head, between the
eye and the ear, l pressed the trigger
With a furious roar she sprang into
the air and seemed to fly back through
her lair. l quickly threw in another
cartridge and fired just az she disap
peared into the bushes, aud an instant
later L heard the roar of Cans ele
plant gun, followed by the snarlin9
of lion. ] quickly ran around the
thicket, and arrived in sight of him
just as he was in the act of discharg.
ing his second barrel into the very
mouth of the lion, which was charging
| straight for him. As he fired he
quickly jumped to one side, while the
lion turned n complete somersault, but
regained its feet in an instant and
stood wavering, evidently too sick to
| attempt another charge, but growing
horribly. [ was about to fire ut him
when he fell over on his side, and as
we approached nearer we could see
that he was in his last gasps, and be-
yond the possibility of doing harm.
A few convulsive struggles, q last at
tempt to gain his feet, and he was
! dead.
After making sure that the lion was
done for, we retraced our steps to the
other side of the thicket, cautiously
approaching the place where [ had
seen the lioness disappear. We had
not proceeded far when we came upon
her, stretched under a thicket and
breathing her life out, 80 nearly done
/ for that she was unable to rise ut oui
approach. I gave her a shot in the
head, and she settled back with a
shiver and lay still. For q moment ]
stood, lost in admiration of her grace.
! ful proportions, with the mighty mus.
cles beneath her glossy skin, when
my attention was attracted to Gan,
who was trying to capture the cubs.
! Although they were very young, not
mnSn larger than kittens in fact, there
was much infantile growing and bit.
ing aud scratching before he was able
| to make them prisoners. When he
had finally bundled one under each
arm we started for camp, as it was
fast getting dark. We met several OF
my men on the road back, whom ]
| sent on to skin the lions, and arriy.
/ ing at camp we fastened the lion
/ whelps to the centre.pole Of my tent,
intending to keep them as souvenirs
OF my trip; aud very interesting they
proved during the remainder Of our
| long journey. Field and Stream.