The Elk Mountain pilot., 1909-10-28
srRgNUous Ex-eRGslDgNr's ,Ex-
PRRlGNcE WITH DIG GAME
IN AFRICA.
FIVE FlGHITilNG BEASTS
THEY ARE THE LION. ovFFALo,
ELEPHANT. RHiNocERos
AND LEOPARD.

writing In the November number
OF scribners 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 plunsss 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 A.
ways docs 10 At . certain risk Of life
or limb; . risk which 1t IL his bust
ness to minimize BY coolness, eau
ton. good judgment and straight
shooting. The leopard 10 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 Ately Of Chicago.
actually killed barehanded . leopard
which sprang on him. He had already
wounded the beast twice. crippiing Il
upon II charged. followed him ~ he
tried to dodge the charge. and struck
him full just ~ he turned. 1t bit him
In one arm. biting again and>aGain -
II worked up the arm from the wrist
to the elbow. but Akely threw It. hold
ing its throa& with the other hand.
flinging Its body TO one side.
TT luckily fell upon its side with its
two wounded legs uppermost 50 that
It could not tear him. He fell forward
with II 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 ef-
forts with knees and hands he actu-
ally choksd and crushed the life out
Of Il. although his arm was badly BIT
ten"
Roosevelt dsvotes considerable
space to telllng how he brought to
bay and finally killed . lion. The de-
scription begins at . point where the
hunter 10 standing beside bis mount
consideriAg what he shall do II tho
Non charges and cannot b stopped
with . well directed shot
Ths writer continues:
~Now, an elderly man with . varied
past. which included rheumatism.
does not vault lightly into the saddle
~ his sons, for instance. can; and I
had already made up my mind that In
the event Of the lions charging II
would b. wise for me to trust to
straight powder rather than to try to
scramble into the saddle and get un-
der way in time. -5t
II could still ses the lion whom
knelt, but now he was standing up.
looking first at ona group oe horses
and then at another. his tail lashlns
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. bis tall
lashing quicker and quicker.
Resting my elbow on Simba's bent
shoulder. 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 . mo-
ment and stood up. evidently very
sick, and once. more faced me growl-
ing hoarsely. think he was ON the
eve Of charging. fired again at once
and this bullet broke his back just
behind the shoulders. and with the
next I killed him outright. after We
had rathered round him."