The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-07-21
FEW EDWARDS AMONG ANIMALS OF AFR|CA~
Noted Hunter Tells of Perhs of JungIe---German Professor
Victim of Gorilla Buffalo Cow, Defending Calf, Kills Leopard
X X X X X X

7 be trouble. Two or three times
around the camp that day the yello"
! form Of the lioness was seen flttins
across partly exposed places IN the
bush.
I washed the cubs wound and pu'
some healing preparation from m!
medicine chest on it. That night
! gave the sentries warning of possible
danger, and took my little captive
into my tent and tied it to my
stretcher. 1 drowsed off to sleeI
watching the shadow of the sentr!
on the ten as he passed between ii
and the fire.
4 Rude Awakening.
Suddenly a jerk at my stretchel
awoke me. Instinctively placing m!
hand on my Luger pistol, I opened
my eyes, expecting, If anything, tc
see the guard. Ny heart almost
stoned. To move meant destruction
for there, on three legs, with an
ngr snarl and one paw raised tc
strike. was the lioness in the hal
light that the dying camp fire thre"
| through the flaps of the tent.
MY brains we're of no use to me
for they ceased to work. In silent
fear, almost paralyzed, I lay. The
lioness grabbed it's cub and gave a
tug. The cord that held it snapped,
overturning my stretcher. She turned
and bounded through the door, car
rying her precious offspring. A shot
shattered the silence of the night. ]
sprang to my feet and saw the guard
standing over the q%uivering form OF
the faithful ~lioness, still holding her
beloved cub in her mouth. She was
dead.
1t seemed a pity to kill this mother
ly beast, but it was too late to be
sorry. How she ever passed the
guard battles me. A few days after
ward while one of the shikarees ina
tive hunters) was stalking antelope
for food, he came across a weak little
cub that was evidently dying of star
walton. He brought it to the camp.
It was so like the one I had wounded,
that I have no doubt it was the other
cub of the lioness the guard shot. We
raised the cubs ION the bottle"
On another occasion we were
camped on a stretch of weld near the
Kafu River. A number Of mules that
we used for transportation purposes
were in a kraal some distance from
the camp. About midnight, when the
whole camp, with the exception OF
the guards, was asleep, a wild
screech, followed by the unmistaka-
BILE roar of a lion, came from the di-
rection of the mules. We were too
familiar with the sounds not to know
what was happening.
Selling my rifle and rushing from
my tent, 1 made straight for the noise,
preparing for emergencies as I did
So. A half dozen natives were beside
me. We we're half way to the kraal
when a couple of shots sounded from
the direction of the guards, and the
next instant the huge bulk of a lion
came in leaps and bounds toward us.
AS soon as he saw US coming he
turned at right angles and made for
the bush. AS he did so I raised my
rife and emptied the magazine at his
form, which was soon lost in the
blackness of the night. Notwithstand-
ing that my shots were fired only as
luck shots, I could tell that I had
at least wounded the animal by a low
growl of pain that escaped him.
The next morning before daybreak
we resumed the search for the lion.
AS the first signs of dawn broke
through the east we came on the
lions bloodstained spoor. We fol-
lowed it for ten minutes; then it led
into the open weld.
There, illumined by the first light
shafts the sun shot through the hills,
lay the lion, stretched out at full
length. Beside him sat a huge blond
lioness licking a wound in his back.
My first impulse was to drop on my
knees and shoot. But something in
my heart revolted. 1t was SO pa
thetic, this lioness so like a woman;
she seemed a civilized being and 1 a
savage.
In Defense Of Her Mate.
We advanced, and the ~lioness, see,
ing us for the first time, sprang VI
and defantly approached a few yards
her tail whipping the air. She re-
turned to the lion and stood v him
and then, as though deciding to fight
made a mighty leap toward me
raised my rifle and pulled the trigger
There was no explosion. I pulled
back my rifle bolt to thrust a cart
| ridge into the barrel, when l saw thai
the magazine was not loaded. Trust
ing to fate and my legs, I dropped
my useless weapon and ran for tho
nearest tree, the lioness gaining or
me in leaps and bounds. 1 had no
succeeded in reaching the tree wher
a shikaree broke through the bush
in the distance and opened fire with
an automatic rifle, driving a couple
of bullets into the lioness' back. She