Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1902-10-30
Lion Hunti


keep
The courts where Jams&u gloried
and drank deep"
This might well be said now ol
that land in Africa where nee the
great mines of Ophir-Hsg Solo
mon s treasure houses we1e work
ed by busy multitude, wilh splen-
did princes and warriors rom the
north to spur the toilers on and
drive them TO extract e. more
riches from the mountaink
In that mystic land bsswsen TIC
Zambesi and the Saba country the
jungle has come to its own again,
covering mighty ancient fortresses
and walls with growth that locks as
if it never had been disturbed by
man since the world began.
And in that Jungle the wild beasts
rule. There lions and leopards tru-
ly 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 hippo
potami, as if the whole world of
beasts were leagued never 70 per-
NIT a second conquest of the land
have learned to take the initiative
and attack canoes and light boats
that have not even disturbed them.
When DIR. Peters entered the
country with his expedition he was
amazed at the profusion of lie. The
land and the waters and the air were
full of it. Since bis 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 crpcodiles.
He saw herd after herd OF elephant,
buffaloand rhinoceros. Everywhere
he marked the tracks of zebra and
quagga. He describes the wealth
of birds as colossal. Guinea hens,
pheasants, cranes, herons, storks,
flamingOes, pelicans, ducks and
geese were seen by him. not in thou
sands, butin hundredsof thousands
on the banks and islands of the
mighty Africa river.
Book and antelope he found in en-
normous numbers. And east Of the
Manicaland the hunters met lions
and leopards that not only were
plentiful, but fearless, providing
the very climax of sport and excite
ment.
Where Beast Does not Fear Man.
DIR. Peters says that whatever
may be the case in some parts oI
Africa, the statement made occasion
ally 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 an.
telopes and other game deliberately
and enter the villages to break into
kraals where they beat down steers
and sheep and carry them of.
So daring are they that, contrary
to the general habits of the great
cats, they hunt in broad daylight as
well as by night. In the summer
of 1899 two officials of the Mashon
aland Railroad were actually dragg
ed out of their rooms in their huts
by lions and carried of within full
view of the laborers along the rail
road. On each occasion the lions
made their attack in the middle O
the day.
Another lion leaped into tent or
the Saba River and carried away {
British prospector while he was a
luncheon.
One day, while DIR. Peters. DIR
Blocker, an Englishman named
Thompson and several others were a
breakfast in the valley Of the Lupa
ia, negroes arrived breathlessly with
the news that three lions had broker
into kraal in the neighboring vii
lage of Merula and had killed and
dragged of q man and a number O
hogs. The lions, said the messen
ger were then sitting in a thick busl
near the village, eating their prey
Blocker and Peters seized theil
rifles. and accompanied by two un
armed men who carried the car
tridges, they soon reached the vii
lage where there was intense ex
citement, all the negroes screaming
and shouting in an effort to drivl
the uncanny visitors away. Th,
bush was only thirty feet from th,
settlement, and extended to the riv
er, which was about one hundres
and fifty feet distant Peters tool
his position near a big tree abou
thirty feet from the bush. Bloecke
stood on the other sideof the beastl
hiding place. The negroes gather
ed, on the other end of the bush ant
began 10 fire old muskets, bea
drums and make all the other noise
possible to drive the lions towar'
the hunters.