The Savannah morning news., 1902-10-12
" IT'S said the lion and the jackal


This might well be said now of that
land in Africa where once the great
Mines of Ophir, King Solomons treas
ure houses, were worked by a busy
multitude, with splendid princes and
warriors from the North to spur the
toilers on and drive them to extract
ever more riches from the mountains.
/ In that mystic land between the
Zambesi and the Saba country the
jungle has come to its own again. COW
ering mighty ancient fortresses and
walls with growth that looks as If it
never had been disturbed by man since
the world began.
And in that jungle the wild beasts
rule. There the lions and leopards
truly are man eaters, not waiting to
be attacked, but carrying the war into
the camps and into the very tents of
the invaders. Even the hippopotami,
as If the whole world of beasts were
leagued never to permit no second con-
quest of the land, have learned to take
the initiative and attack canoes and
light boats that have not even dis
turbed them.
When DR.. Peters entered the country
with his expedition he was amazed at
the profusion of life. The land and
the waters and the air were full of it.
Since his return from his last trip he
has declared that game hunting in
many portions of the territory is the
best in the world. The Zambesi river
there is literally full of hippopotami
and crocodiles. He saw herds after
% ala be
noceros. Everywhere he marked the
tracks of zebra and quagga. He de-
scribes the wealth of birds as "colos-
SAL" Guinea hens, pheasants, cranes,
herons, storks, flamingoes, pelicans,
duck and geese were seen by him not
in thousands, but in hundreds of thous-
ands on the banks and islands of the
mighty African river.
Book and antelope he found in enor-
nous numbers. And east of the Manica
Land the hunters met lions and Loop
ards that not only were plentiful, but
fearless, providing the very climax of
sport and excitement.
Where Beast Does Not Fear Man.
DR.. Peters says that whatever may
be the case in some parts of Africa,
the statement made occasionally by
lion hunters to the effect that the sport
is not very dangerous is not true in
this region. Lions and leopards there
attack the domestic animals Of man
and man himself by preference. They
pass tempting antelopes and other
game deliberately and enter the viii
lagos to break into kraals, where they
beat down steers and sheep and carry
them off.
So daring are they that, contrary to
the general habits of the great cats,
they hunt in broad daylight as we'll as
by night In the summer of 1899 two
officials of the Mashona Land Rail-
road were actually dragged out Of their
rooms In their huts by lions and car
ried off within full view of the labor
ers along the railroad. On each occa-
sion the lions made their attack in the
middle of the day.
Another lion leaped into a tent on
the Sabi River and carried away a
British prospector while he was at
luncheon.
One day, when DR.. Peters, DR..
Blocker, an Englishman named
Thompson and several others were at
breakfast in the valley of the Lupata,
negroes arrived breathlessly with the
news that three lions had broken into
a kraal in the neighboring village of
Merula and had killed and dragged of
a man and a number of hogs. The
mons, SdlO the messenger were IIlcH
sitting in a thick bush near the viii
lage, eating their prey.
Blocker and Peters seized their
rifles, and accompanied by two unarm-
ed men who carried the cartridges, they
soon reached the village, where there
was intense excitement, all the ne
groes screaming and shouting in an
effort to drive the uncanny visitors
away. The bush was only thirty feet
from the settlement, and extended to
the river, which was about $50 feet dis
tant. Peters took his position near
big tree about thirty feet from the
bush Blocker stood on the other side
of the beasts hiding place. The ne
groes gathered on the other end of the
bush and began to fire old muskets,
beat drums and make all the other
noises possible to drive the lions to-
ward the hunters.
Fighting Lion Indeed.
Before many minutes a tremendous
roar sounded right in front of Peters,
and a grand lion. heavily named
sprang toward the tree. The hunter
fired and scored a clean miss. In
stantly the brute leaped again. this
time directly at the doctor. He step
ped sideways, and in the next moment
the lion had beaten down four ne
groes who had been hiding behind the
tree and knocked them insensible with
sweeps of his great paws.
DR.. Peters was just about to fire
when the lion leaped on a fifth man,
driving his hind claws deep into his
body and tearing savagely at his neck
and shoulders with forepaws and teeth.
Fearing to shoot the man, Peters
aimed a little too high and shot into
the lions ribs instead of his backbone.
But the bullet had the desired effect
of diverting the beasts attention from
his victim and he turned, arose ma
jestically to his full noble hight and
glared at Peters, who stood barely ten
feet away.
The doctor reached out for more car
tridges, and failing to get them, peered
backward To his horror, he saw his
cartridge bearer running at top speed
toward the village. Convinced that he
was at the end of his earthly hunting
he dubbed his rife to make one last
hopeless fight for his life.
The lion crouched, gathered himself
for a spring, and-fell in a heap. The
expanding bullets effect on the blood
vessels had made itself felt just in the
nick of time, and not a tenth of a sec
ond too soon.
With his last strength the beautiful
creature, still facing the hunter fear
lessly, dragged himself toward some
high grass. On the way big negro
tried to spear him. Dying though he
was, the lion, with motion as If he
assailant one light pat Dit hardly could
be called a blow. That pat ripped off |
all the flesh of the mans left leg from
thu nnneF thigh To the knee.