Evening star., 1909-04-25


right about this lion sleeping lightly, for
at the first stone there was growl and
l crash in the bushes. and then for a min
ute or two not sound. The men started
% walk down, one on each side. shooting
and throwing in stones was watching
them and wondering what had happened
TO the lion when there was a faint crac-
king just IN front OF US. and he appeared
at the point Of the island. Although we
were standing within a few yards Of him
and absolutely In the open he did not see
US.
He was facing straight toward US. and
was SO close that I did not like to fire at
him as. on receiving the bullet, he would
be very likely to plunge In the direction
he was going and be into US: nor did
want him to come any closer; 50. as ne
stepped down on to the sand, I moved
my rifle up toward my shoulder to at
tract his attention. He saw the move
ment at once, stopped dead. and turned
his head sharply toward US. For the
fraction OF a second thought he was go
ing to be startled into charging, but
snarl at US over his shoulder. AS he
passed I pulled. and he skateds along
. on his stomach and fell down little
ledge in the sand. This slowed him
eagled on the sand, evidently quite un-
able to move. All the life in him seemed
concentrated in his eyes. which glared
at US furiously. Another shot put him
out Oh nlS IulSSEy. 1u6 lISL SIOl, q tct y bdo
one., had grazed the spine just in front
of the withers: another quarter of an
inch higher and it would have missed al
together.
y \
This lion was quite maneless. except
for few long hairs on each side of the
neck, and his teeth were worn down quite
short, so he was evidently very old. He
was in very good condition. notwithstand-
ing, but his stomach was quite empty,
which accounted for his going 80 far be-
fore lying up. We had to stop at the
main camp for the night when we got
there, and did not follow up our camels
till the next day. I have described this
track rather at length because 1t is a
good example Of many similar days.
My first experience in tracking lions
was early in 1892, and the night before
was rather an exciting ono. After hunt
ing elephants unsuccessfully for about
month, we were on our way SOUTH when
we arrived one day at some villages
where the natives had been very much
bothered by five lions which were said
to be still in the neighborhood. A girl
had been killed two days before, and an
enormous amount OF damage nad oeen
done among the sheep and cattle. The
first day we camped there two of our
party had shooting zerebas made at the
village to which the lions generally came,
and just before sunset they went on
there.
l tied up our donkeys just outside the
CAMP on the chance that the lions might
come and look us up. Just after dark we
were having dinner in the tent when
there was a scuffle outside. and it was
evident that something was attacking our
donkeys It was pitch dark, and we fired
several shots in the direction Of the
sound before we discovered that the at
tacking beasts were hyenas. We did not
mind having g. donkey killed instan-
taneously by lion. but we had not bar
gained for the poor beasts getting mauled
by hyenas, SO taking a lamp We went
out to see what had happened. MY don
key had got of with nasty bite In the
and we had him taken into the camp at
once. The other was completely dfsem-
boweled and must have been killed In
stantly We could not find any dead
hyenas, but we were pretty sure that ono
or two must have been hit. Seeing tnat
il the lions did come to the dead donkey
there would not be much chance of hit
ting them on SO dark q night, we pulled
the carcass right under the skerm or
fence round the camp. and. to prevent
one Of its legs, and passing 1t over the
fence. fastened 1t to a heavy water bar
rel inside the camp. We sat up for bit
and got a few shots at hyenas, and then
we went to bed, telling the sentry to keep
q sharp lookout and to let US know II
lions came to the carcass.
kA
Some time after : awoke to find Abb
dullah bending over me, with my rifle In
his hand He was frightfully excited. and
all I could get out Of him was "Libah.
sahib, libah" c'Lion, sir. lion!1 Jump.
ing up rushed out just as my companion
fired two shots into the darkness The
first thing / saw when l got to where he
stood was that great piece Of the skerm
round the camp had disappeared, leaving
a broad gap. could not for a moment
think what had happened. and then 1t
struck me that when the carcass had
been dragged away the water barrel must
have got hitched against the inside of
the interlaced mimosa boughs and the
whole lot had gone together. 1t was
frightfully dark outside. and We stood
peerIng out for some time without being
able to distinguish anything: but after
a few minutes we could hear something
tearing at the flesh quite close by. We
had a shot or two at the sound, and the
beasts, whatever they were, went away.
As at that time we knew nothing about
lions. we were not quite sure that they
were not hyenas after all: but Abdullah
stuck to It they were lions, so we got
- Ia A~yp - -