The Colorado statesman., 1909-10-23
sTRENUoUS Ex-PRESIDENT'S Ex-
PERlENcE WITH BIG GAME
IN AFRICA.
five FIGHTING BEASTS
THEY ARE THE LION, BUFFALO,
ELEPHANT, RHiNocERoS
AND LEOPARD.

New York.-Theodore Roosevelt,
writing in the November number
of Scribner's Magazine. gives his
Impressions and experiences on an
East African ranch - which, in
many ways reminded him of ear
lier days on the plains of the
great West, and then plunges directly
into an account of his first encoun-
ters with big African game.
THE dangerous game of Africa he
says, "are the lion, buffalo, elephant,
rhinoceros and leopard. The hunter
who follows any of these animals al
ways does so at a certain risk of life
or limb; a risk which it is his bust
ness to minimize by coolness, eau
ton, good judgment and straight
shooting. The leopard is in point of
pluck and ferocity more than the
equal of the other four; but his small
size always renders it likely that he
will merely maui, and not kill man.
MY friend, Carl Akely of Chicago,
actually killed barehanded a leopard
which sprang on him. He had already
wounded the beast twice, crippling it
in one front and one hind paw, where
upon it charged, followed him as he
tried to dodge the charge, and struck
him full just as he turned. 1t bit him
In one arm. biting again and again as
it worked up the arm from the wrist
to the elbow, but Akely threw it, hold
ing it's throat with the other hand,
flinging it's body to one side.
'It luckily fell upon it's side with its
two wounded legs uppermost so that
it could not tear him. He fell forward
with it and crushed in its chest with
his knees until he distinctly felt one
of its ribs crack; this, said Akely, was
the first moment when he felt he
might conquer. Redoubling his eff
forts with knees and hands he actu-
ally choked and crushed the life out
of it, although his arm was badly bit
ten."
Roosevelt devotes considerable
space to telling how he brought to
bay and finally killed lion. The de-
scription begins at a point where the
hunter is standing beside his mount
considering what he shall do if the
lion charges and cannot be stopped
with a well directed shot.
The writer continues:
Now, an elderly man with a varied
past, which included rheumatism.
does not vault lightly into the saddle
as his sons, for instance, can; and l
had already made up my mind that in
the event of the lions charging it
would be wise for me to trust to
straight powder rather than to try to
scramble into the saddle and get un-
der way in time.
"I could still see the lion when
knelt, but now he was standing up,
looking first at one group of horses
and then at another, his tail lashing
to and fro, his head held low and his
lips dropped over his mouth in Pc
culiar fashion, while his, harsh and
savage growing rolled thunderously
over the plain. Seeing Simba and me
on foot, he turned toward us, mis- tail
lashing quicker and quicker
Resting my elbow on Simba's bent
shoulder, 1 took steady aim and
pressed the trigger; the bullet went
in between the neck and shoulder, and
the lion fell over on his side, one fore
leg in the air. He recovered in a mo-
ment and stood up, evidently very
sick, and once more faced me growl-
ing hoarsely l think he was on the
eve of charging. l fired again at once
and this bullet broke his back just
behind the shoulders, and with the
next | killed him outright, after we
had gathered round him"