Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 January 1896 — CLOSE CALL. [ARTICLE]

CLOSE CALL.

A Noted Lion-Hunter's Narrow Escape. From an article on “Wild Beasts as They Live,” written for Scribner by Captain C. J. Meilis, a British officer stationed in India, and a noted lionhunter. we make this statement: Giving over my pony to one of the Somalis I walked slowly toward the lion, bidding Jama to remain in the saddle if he wished, but to keep as near as possible with the second gun. Very cautious and slow was my approach, for I did not want to bring on a charge before I had got in a shot, and it looked as if a too rapid advance would do so, for the lion, without stirring an inch, kept up a series of snarls and growls, giving me an excellent view of his teeth, accompanied all the while by short, sharp flicks of his tail on the ground. I walked up to within fifty yards of him, hoping to shoot him dead at that distance and so avoid a charge. I then sat down and fired at him between the eyes, jumping to my feet instinctively to be ready if he charged. It was not a bit too soon. At the shot the lion sprang up with a furious roar. I had a lightning glimpse of him rearing up on his hind legs pawing the air; then he came for me. It was a tierce rush across the ground, no springing that I could see. How close we got before I fired I cannot say, but it was very close. I let him come on, aiming the muzzles of the rifle at his chest. Jama says he was about to spring as I pulled the trigger and ran back a pace or two to one side; but as 1 did so, I saw through the smoke that the lion was stopped within a few paces of me. The second gun and Jama were not as near as they might have been. The lion struggled up on his hind quarters uttering roars. I rammed two fresh cartridges into my rifle in an instant and fired my right into him. The grand brute fell over dying. The Somalis set up a wild yell, and I am not,sure I did not join in. Although Vermont has for several years offered the liberal bounty of fifteen dollars on bears, the animals are still found upon the mountains, and, in the opinion of hunters and trappers, are growing in numbers in that section.