Wild Beasts and Their Ways, Reminiscences of Europe, Asia, Africa and America. Volume 1

The spare camel was now brought up, and with great difficulty my three Tokrooris, the Hamran Arab, and myself succeeded in placing the lioness across the saddle, having first opened and cleaned the body to reduce the weight.

Blood trickled from the carcase, and dropped upon the ground, thus forming a trace throughout the route until we reached the camp. The lioness was 9 feet 1 inch in length, and, when skinned, the body was dragged to a considerable distance and left for the hyenas.

The fires were blazing after sunset; the horses of my Hamran hunters, and my own, were picqueted within the centre of our enclosure, near the tent, and we were about to retire for the night, when a deep guttural sigh was heard close to the high and impervious fence of kittur thorns. This had been carefully constructed, as life was most uncertain within that questionable district, where the Arab hunting parties invariably killed all natives of the crafty Base tribe whenever met, and they incurred a similar retaliation. The fence was made of entire trees cut off near the roots, and then dragged by the stems into line, with their wide-spreading heads of sharp hooked thorns forming the outside surface; these were locked together by their hooks, entangled, and nothing could possibly have broken through, except an elephant or rhinoceros.

Prowling around this excellent protection was a lion, who was pronounced by my hunters to be the mate of the lioness which I had killed; it was declared that the disconsolate husband had followed the course of his wife's body, denoted by the drops of blood that had dripped upon the ground when carried by the camel towards the camp. My people were of opinion that the lion was determined upon vengeance, and that he would assuredly bound over our fence, although he could not absolutely break through it.

The night was always interesting upon the banks of the Settite river, as vast numbers of wild animals were astir half an hour after sunset, which either came down to drink, or to wander in search of green pasturage, that was only to be found in places from which the water had retreated. The lions were accordingly on the alert, and the threatening sound of their deep voices was to be heard in every direction, until approaching daylight drove them to their thickets.

There is nothing so beautiful, or enjoyable to my ears, as the roar of a lion upon a still night, when everything is calm, and no sound disturbs the solitude except the awe-inspiring notes, like the rumble of distant thunder, as they die away into the deepest bass. The first few notes somewhat resemble the bellow of a bull; these are repeated in slow succession four or five times, after which the voice is sunk into a lower key, and a number of quick short roars are at length followed by rapid coughing notes, so deep and powerful that they seem to vibrate through the earth.

Our nocturnal visitor did not indulge in the usual solo, but he continued throughout the night to patrol the circuit of the camp, occasionally betraying his presence by a guttural roar, or by the well- known deep sigh which exhibited the capacity of his lungs. We could not see to shoot, owing to the darkness outside the fence, and the brightness of our fire within the camp; this my men industriously replenished with wood, and occasionally hurled fire-brands in the direction of the intruder.

At length we went to sleep, leaving the natives to keep watch; they declared that nothing would induce them to close their eyes, as the lion would assuredly carry off one of the party before the morning. To their great discontent, I refused to disturb the night by firing a gun, as I had determined to hunt up the lion on the following day at sunrise.

Upon waking early, we discovered the deep footprints upon the sandy soil, which had marked a well-beaten path around our impenetrable fence, showing that the lion had been patrolling steadily throughout the night. This fact led me to suppose that I should most probably find him somewhere within a very short distance of the camp. I started with some of my best men, and instead of a light single-barrel I carried my '577 rifle.

The position of our camp was exceedingly favourable for game, as the river made a circuitous bend, which had in ages past thrown up a mass of alluvial soil of several hundred acres, all of which was now covered with a succession of dense patches of nabbuk jungle, interspersed with forest trees and numerous small glades of fine dwarf grass, which formed a sward. I felt certain that our visitor of the last night must be somewhere in this neighbourhood, and I determined to devote the entire day to a rigorous search; in this my men were unanimous, as they objected to passing another night in sleepless excitement and anxiety.

Luck was against us. I had numerous opportunities during the day of shooting other animals, but I was devoted entirely to the lion, which we could not find.

I was scratched with countless thorns, as we broke through the thickest bushes, peering beneath their dark shade, and searching every acre of the ground in vain. In spite of the great heat, we worked from early morning until half an hour before sunset without resting from our work; all to no purpose; there were tracks of lions in all directions, but the animal itself was invisible. It was time to turn towards home, and I led the way through low bush and sandy glades not larger than an ordinary room, all of which were so much alike that it was difficult to decide whether we had examined them before, during the day's hard march. In several places we discovered our own footprints, and thus cheerlessly we sauntered homewards, tired, and somewhat disgusted at the failure.

We were within half a mile of the camp, and I was pushing my way through some dwarf green nabbuk about 5 feet high, when, upon breaking into a small open glade, a large lion with a dark shaggy mane started to its feet from the spot where it had been lying, probably half asleep. I instantly fired, before it had time to bound into the thick jungle, and with tremendous roars it rolled over beneath the dense nabbuk bushes, where at this late hour the shade was almost dark. As quick as possible I fired a second shot, as it was rolling over and over, with extraordinary struggles, and it disappeared in the almost impervious bush, dragging its hind legs in such a manner that I felt sure the spine was broken by the bullet. It was so dark that we could not discern the figure of the animal beneath the thorns, although it was only a few feet distant. Having reloaded, I hardly knew what course to pursue; we had no means of driving the lion from the bush, I therefore examined the ground, and we discovered that the nabbuk into which it had retreated was simply an isolated clump, surrounded by narrow glades of sandy turf. From this asylum I felt sure it could not move, and although it would have been more heroic to have crept into the dark cover and have given it a quietus, or more probably to have received it myself, we came to the wise conclusion that if the lion could not move, it would be there on the following morning, when we should have daylight in our favour.

We returned to camp, and the night passed without disturbance. Directly after sunrise we returned to the spot, and we found the lion still alive, although completely paralysed in the hinder portions. A shot in the centre of the forehead terminated the affair, and the joint efforts of ten men succeeded after great exertion in sliding the carcase upon three inclined poles from the ground to the saddle, while the camel was kneeling in a slight hollow, which the people had scraped away for the purpose.

I had no means of weighing this animal, but it was immensely massive, and would according to my estimation have exceeded 500 lbs.

The accounts published respecting the character of lions differ to such a degree that incidents which are considered natural in one portion of Africa may be regarded as incredible in other districts; there can be little doubt that the character of the animal is influenced by the conditions of its surroundings, which renders it extremely difficult to write a comprehensive account, that will embrace the entire family of lions throughout the world. Roualeyn Gordon Cumming gave a terrible description of a night attack upon his camp, when a lion bounded over the thorn fence, and seizing a sleeping servant from beneath his blanket close to the camp fire, carried him off into the surrounding darkness, and deliberately devoured every portion, excepting one leg, which was found on the following morning, bitten off at the knee-joint. This was the more extraordinary, as another man was at the same time asleep under the blanket with the unfortunate victim; this courageous fellow snatched a heavy firebrand from the pile, and beat the lion on the head in the endeavour to save his friend. Instead of relinquishing its prey, the lion dragged the man only a short distance, and commenced its meal so immediately that the cracking of bones could be heard throughout the night.

In southern Africa a night attack by lions upon the oxen belonging to the waggons is by no means uncommon, in books published concerning expeditions to that country, but in nine years' experience of camp life in Africa, both equatorial and to 14 degrees north of the equator, I have never even heard of any actual depredation committed by lions upon a camp or upon a night's bivouac; the nearest approach was the threatening nocturnal visit already described, where no actual damage was inflicted.

There is an instinct natural to all animals which gives them due warning whether man approaches them with hostile intent, and there can be no doubt that every wild animal possesses this discriminating power, and would be influenced according to circumstances. My own experience has led me to an opinion that the lion is not so dangerous as the tiger, although, if wounded and followed up, there cannot be a more formidable antagonist.

Upon several occasions I have seen lions close to me when I have had no opportunity of shooting, and they have invariably passed on without the slightest signs of angry feeling. I was riding along a very desolate path, and a lioness, followed by five nearly full-grown young ones, walked quietly from the jungle, and they crossed within a few yards of my horse's head, apparently without fear or evil disposition. I well remember, at the close of a long march we halted beneath a large tree, which I considered would form an agreeable shade for our tent. I gave my rifle to a servant, who deposited it against the tree, preparatory to my dismounting, when a lioness emerged from the bushes, and walked unconcernedly through our party, within only a few feet of the startled horses. She disappeared without having condescended to increase her pace.

Upon another occasion I had fired the grass, which had left a perfectly clean surface after the blaze. The night was bright moonlight, and I was standing in front of the tent door, when a large, maned lion and a lioness crossed the open space within 10 or 12 yards of my position, and stood for a few moments regarding the white tent; they passed slowly forward, but had disappeared before I had time to return with a rifle.

I once saw a wounded lion decline a challenge from a single hunter. It is possible that a tiger might have behaved in the same manner, but it would be dangerous to allow the opportunity. I had taken a stroll in the hope of obtaining a shot at large antelopes, to procure flesh for camp, and I was attended by only one Arab, a Hamran hunter armed with his customary sword and shield. Having a peculiar confidence in the accuracy of a two-grooved single rifle of small bore, I took no other, and we walked cautiously through the jungle, expecting to meet some animal that would supply the necessary food. We had not walked half a mile when we emerged upon a narrow glade about 80 yards in length, surrounded by thick bush. At one end of this secluded and shady spot an immense lion was lying asleep upon the ground, about 70 yards distant, on the verge of the dense nabbuk.

He rose majestically as we disturbed him by our noise in breaking through the bushes, and before he had time to arrange his ideas, I fired, hitting him through the shoulder. With the usual roars he rolled several times in apparent convulsive struggles, until half hidden beneath the dense jungle; there he remained.

If I had had a double rifle I could have repeated the shot, but in those days of muzzle-loaders I had to reload a single rifle, and as usual, when in a hurry, the bullet stuck in the barrel and I could not drive it home.

In this perplexity, to my astonishment my Arab hunter advanced towards the wounded lion, with his drawn sword grasped firmly in his right hand, while his left held his projected shield, and thus unsupported and alone, this determined fellow marched slowly forward until within a few yards of the lion, which, instead of rushing to attack, crept like a coward into impenetrable thorns, and was seen no more. The Arab subsequently explained that he had acted in this manner, hoping that the lion would have crouched preparatory to a spring; he would then have halted, and the delay would have given me time to load.

I have before remarked upon the extreme danger of despising an adversary, and although I do not consider the lion to be so formidable or ferocious as the tiger, that is no reason for despising an animal which has always been respected from remote antiquity to the present day. It is impossible to be too careful when in pursuit of dangerous game. My friend Colonel Knox of the Scots Fusilier Guards, an experienced and fearless sportsman, very nearly lost his life in an encounter with a lioness, although under the circumstances he could hardly be blamed for want of due precaution. He had shot the animal, which was lying stretched out, as though dead. Being alone, he returned to camp to procure the necessary people, and together with these he went to the spot where he found the lioness in the same position. Naturally he considered that it was dead, but upon approaching the prostrate body he was instantly attacked, knocked down, and seized by the back; he would assuredly have been killed had he not been assisted by his followers. Although he killed the lioness, he was seriously mauled, and was laid up for a considerable period in consequence.

It would be easy to produce cases where lions have caused terrible fatalities, and others where they have failed to support their reputation for nobility and valour; but as I have already observed, there is no absolute certainty or undeviating rule in the behaviour of any animal. The natives of Central Africa, who are first-rate sportsmen, have no fear of the lion when undisturbed by hunters, but they hold him in the highest respect when he becomes the object of the chase. I have known a lion which, when stopped by the nets in one of the great African hunts, knocked over five men, all of whom were seriously wounded, and, although it was impaled by spears, it succeeded in evading a crowd of its pursuers.

Stories of lions are endless, and were they compiled, a most interesting work might result, but my object in producing a few anecdotes, mostly of my own personal experience, is to elucidate the character of the animals by various examples, which prove the impossibility of laying down any fixed or invariable rule.

There can be no doubt that the mode of hunting generally adopted in Central Africa is far more dangerous than the careful contrivances of India, where the tiger, as fully described, is hunted either upon elephants or by posting the guns in secure positions. Even in Rajpootana, where hunting is frequently conducted upon foot, the ground is specially favourable among deep and precipitous ravines, where abrupt rocks and perpendicular banks afford protection to the hunter.

In Central Africa the climate and fodder are so detrimental to horses that the explorer quickly discovers the utility of his own legs, and no experience is so conducive to steady and accurate shooting as the knowledge of an impossibility to escape by speed. We are all creatures of habit, and are more or less the slaves of custom; this is proved AD ABSURDUM by the peculiar feeling when a man who is accustomed to shoot tigers from the secure and lofty position in a tree, finds himself compelled to seek the animal upon foot. In Africa, also in Ceylon, the hunter is so much in the habit of standing upon his own legs that he ceases to fear the attack of any creature, feeling certain of the accuracy of his rifle; but this same individual would begin to feel unnaturally exposed if, after a continuous experience in secure mucharns and mounted upon elephants, he should be suddenly called upon to seek a wounded tiger or lion upon foot. I have never followed lions except on foot. They are killed by the Hamran Arabs on horseback; fairly hunted by two or three of these splendid fellows, and cut down by a stroke across the spine with the heavy broadsword.

The lion is never specially sought for by the natives of Central Africa, but should he be met with in their ordinary hunting expeditions, he takes his chance like all other animals, and is attacked either with arrows or the spear.

Many of the natives are exceedingly courageous, and will advance to the attack upon a lion with spear and shield, or even without the latter safeguard, as they are confident in the support of their companions in case of an emergency. I remember upon one occasion I had wounded a lioness by a shot in the chest from a very accurate but extremely ineffective rifle, which, although '577, carried a small charge of 2 1/2 drams of powder. The animal took refuge in a patch of high grass only a few yards square. Invisible in this retreat, my three hardy natives offered to go in and throw their spears at her, provided I would be ready to support them should she charge into the open when they had failed. This proceeding would have been a reflection upon our superior weapons, and I declined the proposal, as too dangerous to the men. I sent the natives to the summit of a white ant-hill about 7 feet high; from this they espied the animal lying in the yellow grass, but so indistinct that it was impossible to determine her exact position. I accordingly instructed the men to keep a sharp look-out, and to throw their spears should the lioness charge, as I would provoke an attack by firing a shot at hazard into the long grass. Placing Lieut. Baker, R. N., upon my right, with instructions to enfilade the expected attack, I advanced to within 20 yards of the grass, and fired into the spot she was supposed to occupy. The effect was instantaneous. At the report of the rifle the lioness uttered a loud roar and charged directly upon myself, the most prominent antagonist. I fired the left-hand barrel at her chest, but this miserable weapon had no penetration (it was the first and last that I ever possessed with a hollow bullet); the natives hurled their spears, but missed the flying mark; Lieut. Baker fired right and left with a No. 70 small-bore, which hit, but without effect. Everybody turned and ran at their best speed, as the lioness in hot pursuit was within a few feet of us. A native servant of Lieut. Baker passed me with his master's spare gun in his hand. To snatch this from the man, and to turn round and face the still roaring pursuer, was the work of an instant, and I fired into her chest a No. 12 spherical ball with 4 1/2 drams of powder from an ordinary smooth-bore. To my delight, this rolled her over and checked her onset; but she immediately sprang back to her asylum of yellow grass. We were now reduced to our original position, but I knew the wound would be quickly fatal.

The natives recovered their spears, while we all reloaded, and presently one of our people from the summit of the ant-hill excitedly pointed to an object in the high grass; within a distance of about eight yards I distinguished the back of the head and neck of the lioness. She was looking in the opposite direction; this gave me a fatal opportunity, and a shot in the nape of the neck settled the affair, after a well-contested struggle.

It was impossible to carry this animal, we therefore skinned it, and upon opening the stomach we found the sections of a fawn antelope; these when placed in position showed the entire animal, which she must have eaten a few hours previously. This was so fresh that my natives immediately made a fire and roasted the meat, which they ate with great enjoyment as a feast of victory. (We measured this lioness carefully with a piece of string; she was 9 feet 6 inches from nose to tip of tail.)

I shall say no more concerning lions, but I shall always admire the calm dignity of appearance, the massive strength, the quiet determination of expression, and the NOLI ME TANGERE decision, that represent the character of the nation which has selected this noble animal for its emblem.

I do not venture upon the extensive variety of smaller species of the genus Felis; but there is one in India which I have only observed upon two occasions; this is the colour of a puma, rather long in the leg, with pointed tufts of black hair at the tips of the ears, giving it the appearance of a lynx. I have a skin in my possession which I shot in the Central Provinces of India in 1888. The whole of the genus Felis, from the lion to the ordinary cat, have the same number of teeth-six cutting teeth, six front teeth, and two incisors in either jaw. The tongues are invariably rough, and in the lion and the tiger they are prickly to such a degree that flesh could be licked clean off the bone without the preliminary and impatient process of tearing by the teeth.

The often-questioned thorn in the extreme end of a lion's tail is by no means a fallacy; this is a distinct termination in a sharp horny point, which, although only a quarter of an inch or less in length, is most decided. I do not consider that there is any special use for this termination, any more than there would be for the tuft of black hair which forms the extremity, and which conceals the thorny substance.