Lower coast gazette., 1914-07-18
OFTEN NEAR DEATH

F. c. Selous, king of big-game hunt
ers, has survived q hundred close
brushes with death.
He spent one thrilling night with
five lions prowling round his frail
shelter Of saplings. Three Of the lions
he shot, with the blast Of their hot
breath in his very face, In q crowded
and glorious five minutes. But he has
never had q narrower escape than
when a wounded elephant charged
him near the Umtali river.
In vain he spurred his horse: the
poor beast was too worn out to gal
lop. Mr.. Selous heard two blood-curd-
ling screams over his head. "All's
up!" he thought, and then the tusk
Of the elephant crashed with terrific
force into his horses rear, and he was
dashed to the ground.
Although stunned by the fall" he
says, II felt that l was unhurt; but
the smell Of the elephant was very
strong. And no wonder, for the huge
animal was kneeling on me!
Fortunately, I was thrown under
its body, had l been in front Of the
forelegs 1 should never have lived to
tell the tale. l wrenched myself
loose, wriggled out from underneath,
and escaped into the bush, with no
more damage than a bruised eye and
a stiff neck"
A still more thrilling experience
was that of Mr. Greenfield, in Somalt-
land, just a score OF years ago, when
he was charged by a wounded lion.
A, couple of barrels fred in his face
failed to check the lion; and Mr.,
Greenfield says, "over We went to-
gether. He had seized my left hand,
and. pinning me down with g paw on
my chest, began to chew at my arm.
Then he made q grab at my stomach,
and when ] managed to turn over on
my face I felt his claws 90 into my
back"
Although Mr.. Greenhe1d's arm was
broken in two places he never felt
the slightest pain. And that he felt,
he tells us, was the lions hot breath
on his face, and the blood. pouring
from his arm on to his thigh. For
tunately at this critical moment. a
weIl.aimed shot from one of his men
killed the monster.
Lord Hindlip never looked death
more closely in the face than one day
In 1904, when hunting In British East
Africa. A wounded lioness was
charging through the long grass.
Waiting until she was within a few
feet" he says, II fired and jumped
aside. As I did SO, her body hit me,
and l found myself, stunned and
dazed. sitting. up several yards away,
wondering II my last shot had been
successful. 1t had: for. several yards
behind where l had stood, I saw the
lioness biting the grass In her last
death-struggle."
When hunting In Somaliland, Cap
tain George Campbell was similarly
bowled over by q wounded and
charging lion, and the next thing he
knew was that the lion was lying
across his legs, pinning him down,
his huge head resting on his lap. An
instant later the captains head boy,
Kalindleh, rushed up, seated himself
astride on the animals back, and
flung his arms tightly round his neck.
Luckily for both the lion was al
ready dying, and while KalinGleh was
imploring his master not to IRE lest
he should be hit, his majesty gave in,
lowered his head, and passed peace
fully away"
Major F. q. Jackson, the celebrated
arctic explorer, Still recalls, with .
reminiscent shudder, his encounter
with q wounded bear In Franz,Josef-
land. with q fearful roar" he says,
the bear rushed on me, his huge jaws
gaping wide; his warm breath was on
my face, his cruel fangs glinted in the
dim light.
"Half-blinded by the flash Of the
rife in the darkness, I thrust the bar
rel with all my force down the AMI.
mails throat"
He plunged his left hand into the
bears mouth up to the wrist; the
sharp teeth deeply bit into It; he
reeled under the shock Of the collision.
Drawing back his rifle, he was about
to make q second thrust when, to hig
amazement and delight, the bear, who
had clearly had enough, turned sharp.
ly round, and made his way swiftly to
the water, crashing his way through
the ice, and swimming to the safety
Of q distant hoe.-Answers.