The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1904-11-02
hons ROUTED By HYENAs
Instances Related by African Ex-
plorer of Rare Courage Of the
Despised Brutes.

E a traveller recently returned from
Africa has a good word TO say of the
generally despised hyena, whose cour-
age, he declares, is much greater than
is supposed generally.
"Hyenas," said the traveller, do not
generally hesitate, when hunting in
packs, to attack lions, even though the
lions are in considerable numbers, and
in such encounters the hyenas often get
the best of it, The lion is a good deal
of buffer He looks so fierce and
roars SO loudly that he gets a greater
reputation for courage than is right
fully his
Dr. Donaldson Smith, wellknown
African explorer, in his account of his
journey to Lake Rudolph, tells stories
of lion-hunting which corroborate the
travellers reports of the relative merits
of the hyena and the lion. On one occa-
sion, when camped in the midst of
lion-infested country, DR. Smith and
his followers built zereba, which is
little Enclosure of brush of such mate
rial as comes to hand.
They made ready to spend the night
watchfuliy, for they knew that lions
were all about them.
Hearing a noise, DR.. Smith parted the
bushes with which the entrance of the
zereba had been filed, and saw three
lions prowling about. When they saw
the doctor they skunk off into the brush.
But when night came down the lions
returned, bringing a number of other
lions with them, and began to sniff
about the zereba, so close, that DR..
Smith, lying fiat on the ground, with his
rifle inside the Enclosure, and watching
for an opportunity to get shot, could
feel the breath of the growing animals.
Just when it seemed as if the pack Of
lions was about to charge the zereba,
their attention was diverted by an at
tack upon them by number of hyenas,
which came growing and snarling out
of the forest.
The hyenas attacked the lions with
great fury and bravery. In the excite
ment of the fight the ordinary howl Of
the hyena changed to deep, loud roar,
which Dr.. Smith declares to be near
ly equal in strength to the roar OF the
lion.
In the fight the lions were driven off.
The natives told the explorer that il
was no uncommon thing for the hyenas
to attack the lions and that as rule
the hyenas got the better of the en-
counter.
Lions in the Lake Rudolph region OF
Somaliland, according to the reports Of
explorers, are accustomed to hunt in
packs probably for protection against
the hyenas.
At one village in which DR.. Smith
stopped he was told of a pack Of six
lions which hunted around that local
ity, and frequently rushed the village
and dragged natives from the huts. The
natives regarded the fact Of pack OF
hyenas in the neighborhood as an as
surance of safety from the lions, be-
cause when the lions 60 man-hunting
the hyenas go lion hunting, and the man
escapes.
Some people say that the lions roar
is most thrilling when the animal is in
a menagerie, but most huRters of big
game declare that this is not so. They
say that there is nothing so magnificent
~ awe-inspiring as the roar of a mad
dened lion-one, for instance. that has
been hit by the hunter, but not killed.
In spite of this roar, however, there
are those who venture to call in question
the lions courage, though the matter
will probably always be one for dis
cussion- 1t is probable that among lions
tits the same as among people some are
brave and some are not. But whatever
may be thought Of the lion the hyena gets
a better reputation the more he is known
and his habits understood.