The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-06-25
THIS ONE ON 7. R.
A Giraffe Actually Made EGrim-
aces at Him.
Also Tried Hard to Give Him a
Kick.
HE TELLS ABOUT 1T.
Hunters Know That the African
Buffalo Is Dangerous
Considered to BE q Worthy Foe
Of the Lion.
HE TELLS ABOUT 1T.

NeW IorK, June 0o.-Mr. Roosevelt s
latest installment Of his African Game
Trails, which appears in the June
Scribner, while not very exciting, con-
tains one of the most interesting cpl
sodes Of his trip, the journey which he
took alone, cutting loose from the rest
OF the party, and making a trek to the
headquarters OF an equatorial river,
The Guaso Nyero." He was in pursuit,
particularly OF the 'oryx," a bold and
hard fighter which, when cornered will
charge man. During this excursion
Mr.. Roosevelt took his own photo
graphs, a number of which are repro
duced with the present article. these
Gays alone in the wilderness went by
very pleasantly" he says. land, as it
was not for too long, l thoroughly en-
Joyed being entirely by myself so far as
white men were concerned" Later he
Joined the main safari and heard an
account from Kermit Of an exciting
lion hunt.
CRATES Are Sassy.
An interesting side-hght on the char
acteristics of the wonderful giraffe
quite the most harmless of any of AZ
rica's wild game, is told of by Colonel
Roosevelt. He came across one of these
animals that responded to being wax
ened from sleep by making faces at
Ter disturbers. OF this incident Mr..
Roosevelt writes:
When I was within 40 yards, in plain
sight, away from cover, she opened her
eyes and looked drowsily at me; but 1
stood motionless and she dozed off
again. This time walked up to with
IT. ten feet of her. Nearer 1 did not
care to venture, as giraffe strike and
kick very hard with their hooves, and,
moreover, occasionally strike with the
head the blow seemingly not being de-
hvered with the knobby, skin-covered
horns, but with the front teeth of the
lower jaw. She walked looked at me,
end then, rearing slightly, struck at
me with her left fore leg, the blow,
OF course, falling short. 1 laughed and
1eaped back, ana the other men ran UP
shouting. But the giraffe would not run
away. She stood within 20 feet of us,
looking at us peevishly, and occasional
ly moving her lips at US, as if she were
making a face. We kept close to the
tree, so as to dodge round it. under the
branches, if she came at us; for we
would have been most reluctant to
shoot her. I threw stick at her, hit
ting her in the side, but she paid no
attention.; and when Bakhari came be-
hind her with a stick she turned sharp
~ on him and he made a prompt re-
treat. We were laughing and talking
sticks md clods of earth, and, after
having thus stood within 20 feet of us
for three or four minutes, she canter-
ed slowly off for 80 yards, and Their
walked away with lelSurely unconcern.
She was apparently in the best of
health end in perfect condition. She
did not get our wind, but her utter
Indifference to the close presence Of
four men Il, inexplicable."
Buffalo Able to Handle LIONS.
That the lion has no easy time in
maintaining his reputation of king
of Beasts" is also made apparent by
Colonel Roosevelt. The African buff
falo Is a match for him under equal
conditions. On this point the colonel
writes:
Kermit also shot three buffalo
bulls, Tarlton helping him to finish
them off, for they are tough animals,
tenacious of life and among the most
dangerous of African game. One
turned to charge, but was disabled by
the bullets of both of them before he
could come on. Tarlton, whose ex-
perience in the hunting field against
dangerous game had been large, al
ways maintained that, although lion
hunting was the most dangerous sport,
because a hunted lion was far more
apt to charge than any other animal,
yet that when a buffalo bull did
charge he was more dangerous than
a lion, because harder to kill or turn.
Where zebra and other game are
abundant, as on the Athi plains, lion
do not NEEDLE with such formidable
quarry as buffalo; on Heatley's farm
lions sometimes made their lairs in
hui