Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-17
COL. ROOSEVELT
HONOR GUEST AT
SAVAGE REVELRY
Former President Greeted
by Giant Native Hold
ing High Old Glory
HUGE LION IS SLAIN
Band of Half-Naked War
riors Spear King of
Beasts to Death
ASSOCIATED Press1

NJ AIROBI, b. E. A, Jan. ia long
stream of porters came winding
~ across the veldt toward the sta
ton dt Nairobi. looking for an the
world like a string of ants. The Stars
and Stripes waved aloft, held by giant
native: and the sounds of horns made
strange discords with the chanting of
the weird and elusive Safari song.
Shortly Col. Theodore Roosevelt ar
river on the back of his favorite horse,
Tranquility. 1t was the end of his last
trip in the British East African pro-
tectorate.
This Safari, which was the fourth to
be made out of Nairobi, gave Col
Roosevelt and his party an opportunity
to witness an exciting hunt at A. e.
Hoy's farm at Saroigi, in the Guasu
Nguisho country-the spearing of a lion
by Nandi warriors.
Seventy spearsmen had been asked to
take part in the drive, and they as
sented readily, for when warrior
spears q lion he becomes a leader OF
the fighting section of the tribe, may
wear a head dress formed of the lion
name and may walk at the head or the
file of Nandi warriors when on the
march. When in these hunts they dis
play extraordinary courage.
Lion Soon Appears
The band of seventy almost naked
men, with their long, sharp spears and
attended by the chosen spectators, the
latter being mounted, proceeded down
in a long valley, where the grass was
thick Thorn trees lined its edges
Soon a lion was seen not more than 400
yards in front
Immediately the warriors gave chase
and in less than two miles they had
rounded up the king of the Wilderness
The horsemen approached, and it was
seen that the lion at bay was full
grown, black-maned one. The spears
men began their task of surrounding
the quarry. Every man went to his
allotted position, and the circle slowly
closed in on the snarling beast, which
swished its tail and kept up con-
tinual roaring.
The warriors drew to within some
twenty yards of him and the horsemen
closed up to see the kill. Three times
the lion charged at the now stationary
warriors, but stopped short each time,
roaring in impotent rage.
The attacking party advanced to
within ten yards of their victim. One
last desperate effort and he drove
directly at the line, only to fall with
ten spears quivering in his body. But
in that brief moment he managed to
drag down one of the natives, his
claws sinking into the mans flesh.
The death of the lion seemed to
awaken all the fire in thea warriors
blood. They began dance of triumph
around the body. waving their blood
stained spears, some of which were
bent by the force of the shock, hold
ing their shields above their heads
and shouting blood-curdling yells.
Bears Pain StoicaIy
In the meantime the injured man
was being given medical attention, and
he bore the pain of his wounds with
out a sign of concern.
He who had first jabbed his spear
through the lion joined in the dance
at the start, but soon retired to a dis
tance. where he seated himself, ap-
parently Indifferent to the antics of
his felloWs.s He was now a leader of
men and must therefore not show signs
that he had done anything out of the
ordinary.
The luck of Kermit. Roosevelt has
been proverbial. While Colonel Roose-
welt was hunting with Lord Delamere
Kermit went with r. b. Cole and his
Wanderebo warriors. The Wanderebos
are adopts at killing bongo, which are
rare and are to be found only in for
ests. In a short space of time young
Roosevelt had obtained a large and fine
female bongo and one young bongo.
This was a feat of which any old
hunter might justly be proud, for no
white man has ever stalked and shot
a bongo. There are only two cases on
record of a white man shooting bongo
with the aid of the natives and their
dogs. So pleased was one of the resi-
dents here with the success of the
youth that he presented Kermit with
a fine specimen of the male bongO,
and so the Smithsonian institution will
have complete family group, the only
one in the world.