The times., 1901-04-07
Embarrassing Position of "A Mechnn-
icai Engineer in south Africa

Embarrassing Position of "A Mechan-
icai Engineer in south Africa.
1t falls to the lot of but few men to
come so near to violent death and yet
| escape unharmed as was the case with j.
| A. Smith, who had been working as a
| mechanical engineer at the Inez. Having
| finished the work for which he had been
engaged, he left the Inez, intending to cy-
| Gle into Salisbury, stopping for a couple
| of days at the Great Bear. He left the
latter place for Gadzima, travelling along
! the line of railway extension. On reach
| ing the spot where the line crosses the
Umfuli River he found, as the bridge is
not yet erected, that he would have to go
| round by the deviation and cross at the
railway drift This necessitated wading
through the river and carrying the bicy-
Gle On reaching the level again he put
his machine down in order TO resume his
boots and socks, and. feeling rather ia
tigued after his exertions, stayed for a
| brief rest.
While enjoying the rest his attention
was drawn By a troop of very fine sable
two magnificent bulls and three COWS
making their way up from the other side
of the river in the direction of a fringe
of forest beyond. Feeling sufficiently re-
freshed, he picked up his machine pre-
paratory to starting again for Gadzima,
which he wished to reach before it be-
came dark The next moment Mr.. Smith
received shock which he VIII not for
get for many a long day. About fifty
yards away, and slightly to his right were
three lions, so intent on stalking the sa-
bic that they were not looking in his di
rectionI
1t was an awkward position, to say the
least, and for q brief space he stood ike
one petrified, but, although his limbs for
a moment We're numb, his mind was dc
tive enough The largest of the three
was huge black-maned lion, the second
was lioness, while the third was an
almost full-grown cub.
The latter was the first to observe Mr..
Smith, and. uttering a low grOwl, made
for the unhappy man, who dropping his
bicycle, stayed not on the order of his
going, but went for a friendly tree at
top speed. He had just time to notice
that the parent lions had started in the
wake Of their young hopeful, the sight
as may be imagined, only serving TO ac-
celerate his pace The tree was but a
short distance away, but to the hunter
1t appeared a mile, expecting every see
ond to be struck down. 1t was destitute
of branches for about ten feet UP, and
how he managed to climb it at all will
forever remain mystery to him. Just
as he thought himself safe, however.
be had an uncanny feeling that he was
being dragged off the tree. The lion. out
stripping his mate in the chase. had made
his spring, missing his quarry by a few
inches only. Even as It was his claws
tore away the greater part OF Mr.. Smiths
trousers and inflicted several fairly deep
scratches-a narrow escape, indeed.
Exhausted and painting, trembling in
every limb, with the perspiration stream
ing out of him he managed to draw him
self up into comparative security, and
1zfs4r GNs m S.x@fI
this dreadful position. while the bafil "a
lion, now joined by the lioness, ragged be-
low, every now and again making frantic
springs, when their fetid breach came
so unpleasantly near as to almost bring
on nausea. The tree, it should be men
toned, was a small maponda, about eigh-
teen feet high.
AT first Mr.. Smith could not understand
what had become of the young lion. which
went for him first, and but for the fact
that he was not in a position to appre-
ciate the humor of the thing. he witnessed
a sight which must have been comical in
the extreme. though to it alone he is firm
ly convinced, his life was due. II seems
that Leo junior stopped halfway to ex-
anime the bicycle. which had been flung
down hastily, with the result that the
front wheel was still revolving.
This arrested the young lions attention,
and. like a child with a new toy, he
turned aside to examine this curious phe-
nomenon. Cautiously giving il pat with
one of his huge paws. which only made it
go round faster, his wonder increased, and
he sat down on his launches. regarding
il with a puzzled air, and not for some
time did he join the parent couple at the
foot of the tree, but not until he had
mounted the machine considerably
and twisted the handlebar. During the
tenure of his unpleasant perch Mr. Smith
cast many wiStful glances in the direc
tion OF his double-barreled gun, which
was strapped to his bicycle. but it might
as well have been a hundred miles away.
He cast his eyes about in order to discOv-
er some place of retreat as soon as the
lions should retire, and to his great joy,
saw q hut some three hundred yards
away.
Just before dark his captors began to
pay less attention to him. and. scenting
the sable again In the vicinity by the aid
of a strong breeze, they left after about
three-qUarters OF an hour, to the extreme
relief of their unfortunate prisoner. After
waiting for about half an hour. until eV-
erything was quiet he cautiously de-
scended, and not daring to go back for
his gun, fearfully made his way to the
nut referred TO, making quick sprints
from tree to tree. There was no roof
and the hut was but a fimsy structure
but after making the entrance as secure
as possible, and kindling a big fire. he
soon dropped off to sleep. At daybreak
he was able to resume his journey, event
uaIiy reaching Gadzima and Sansbury
little the worse. beyond a very natural
nervous shock. for his thrilling expert
ence.-1he RhOdesia Herald