Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 October 1875 — The Lion. [ARTICLE]

The Lion.

A foreign .correspondent of the Ronton Advertiser spiels to,Him journal “ the experience of an old African' soldier who speaks of nothing he has not himself seen and who modestly' withholds only such episodes as would place him in a conspicuous position. The narrator is as; brave as a liou and has thought no more ot hunting this royal game than Sir George Cummings himself.” In a letter to a friend the soldier says: ' “.You wish me to initiate you into the secrets of the true Arab lion hunt, which you mu.-t l>egin by knowing that it little resembles the fantastic tales told, by certain European travelers and dilated upon by newspapers and novel-writers until there is no possibility of separating truth from ficlionmr drawing to any satisfactory degree a conclusion regarding the lion anil panther, which are in fact our only dangerous African carnivorous animals. Lions are quite numerous in certain parts of the province of Constantine, rare in those'of Algiers and Oran. Panthers, on the contrary, are seldom seen in the last two provinces, but are numerous in Alfiers. The habits of these two carnivora iftcr essentially. As a general rule, neither the one nor the other attacks man. It sometimes happens, however, that a panther, surprised while eating, springs furiously upon the man whose imprudent foot has troubled the silence of his repast, and in this case there is nothing to hope, as before the bravest man can have got possession of his arms he is a bruised and broken mass. The panther tears and mutilates the body even after all life has fled, but does not devour it. In general he kills for the pleasure of killing, and even when attacking a flock or herd he vents his savage fury on many before deciding to eat one. “The lion, on the contrary, springs upon his victim and at once devours it, or, dragging it to a preferred dining-spot, quietly makes his repast, nor thinks of troubling the rest of the flock until renewed appetite leads him to satisfy hunger in the same way. If, during the repast, he sees a man approach, and is not ravenous, he gets’up and walks away slowly, one may say solemnly —or sometimes, not even.deign ing this, he raises his majestic head, looks at the intruder, and by a lialf-friendly growl warns him that he will not stand being troubled when at dinner. A pedestrian finding himself in this position does well to withdraw slowly, for should he become frightened and run the lion is quite capable of feeling a desire to overtake him, and in that ease will; even in that case, if the man lias presence of mind sufficient to understand the danger and do the only thing remaining to be done, he may still escape safe and sound. For the lion seems oftenest actuated by a half-playful, friendly sentiment, and so lie does not lose his respect for man —seldom troubles him. Oftentimes lie joins and passes the pedestrian, and when at a good distance crouches across his path, watching him approach. If the man has the unfortunate idea of turning to run away he is lost; but if lie comes on quietly, neither faster nor slower than his usual pace, looking his enemy steadily in the face and showing no signs of fear, he has even- chance to escape. The lion will

growl, wag his tail in rather a terrifying way, but allowing the man to pass before him, get up, and, as though admitting to himself that he had honestly lost his game, go quietly back to his lair. “A lion rarely attacks women, and I once witnessed a scene which will go further than the longest explanation toward illustrating this. It was a hot, sultry day in J uly. The sirocco inade the atmosphere dense with sand and glare; the very earth seemed on fire. I was returning from an expedition on the frontiers of Tunis, and, as I had some matters to settle with tribes in the environs of la Calk, I left my troops to return to Constantine, and, followed only by two spahis, turned my steps toward la Calle. Having started just before day, we arrived at about four o’clock in tlie afternoon at the lord of the little river de la Mafcag. Our horses, as well as we ourselves, were sadly in want of food and drink, and we stopped to refresh ourselves at a little inn kept by a European, and situated on a low mound two or three hundred yards from the ford. Whilst waiting for my frugal repast I unbuckled my sword, laid by my pistols, and,, stretched out comfortably in the shade, idlywatched a band of Arab women washing clothes in the river. All at once I was startled by cries proceeding from the opposite side of a sand-heap bordering the river, and half a dozen women came rushing into the midst of their peaceable companions, dragging them into the shallow water, and behind them a magnificent lion, his tail proudly in air and liis great brown eyes looking caressingly from one to the other. Paying no attention to their retreat into the river, he followed them there, rubbing himself up against them, not seeming to mind in the least their cries or terrified gesticulations, and when he had had enough of it he took a long drink of the running water, and, turning, majestically walked away into the mountains from whence he had come. This lion was a stranger in that part ot the country, and when on the following day I went in search of him he had disappeared.” ————-