Wild Beasts and Their Ways by Sir Samuel White Baker (adult books to read txt) 📕

held a deservedly high position among all classes in the Soudan. He had discovered that no legitimate commerce was possible with the savages of the White Nile; he had therefore advised his employer to that effect, and he had resigned all hope of effecting the original object of his expedition. He was therefore carrying on a business with the native merchants, from whom he purchased gum-arabic from Kordofan, ivory from the White Nile, hides from the Arabs generally, cotton, and cereals, all of which, as opportunity offered, he either sent down the river or across the Korosko desert to Egypt proper.

We were talking about lions, and he told me the following account of what he witnessed as he was returning from the White Nile upon the steamer, then en route towards Khartoum.

The dry season was at its height; all the high grass and other herbage along the river's banks had been burnt by the natives, and the surface of the earth was black and bare. The steamer was going easily down stream, saving her fuel, and as they floated along, with the paddles revolving slowly, a lion was observed upon the dark and lately blackened bank. The vessel was at once stopped, and a trustworthy Tokroori hunter of Lafargue's volunteered to shoot the lion. The man was confident; accordingly he was put ashore, armed only with a single-barrelled rifle.

From the poop-deck of the steamer the whole affair was distinctly visible. They saw the bold Tokroori advance unconcernedly towards the lion, which, although standing when first observed, now immediately crouched. The Tokroori advanced until he was only a few yards distant: he then halted, and fired. With a loud roar the lion flew to the attack, and with a terrific blow it struck the hunter upon the shoulder. The effect was awful; the man was dashed violently upon the ground, and the lion fell across his body; after a few gasps it rolled over and died. The Tokroori never moved.

The steamer was now run alongside the bank, and Monsieur Lafargue, with a number of men, quickly went ashore. Both the Tokroori and the lion were quite dead. The bullet had struck the animal in the chest, and had passed through the heart. The Tokroori's arm was hanging from the hip! It had not only been completely dislocated at the shoulder by the blow, but it had been torn or struck downwards with such extreme force that the flesh had been entirely stripped off the ribs and the side; the arm at the extremity of this ruin was dangling upon the ground, hanging only to the hip by the flesh attached. The Tokroori had been killed on the spot by the shock to the system. This was a remarkable example of force. On the other hand, although the lion frequently uses this dreadful power of striking when in full charge, there are many cases when the animal seizes simply with teeth and claws, like a tiger or others of the race. (A tiger possesses the power to deliver a tremendous blow, but it seldom exercises this force.)

I am of opinion that the act of striking would depend upon the position of the animal or person attacked. There can be no doubt that a lion could fell an ordinary bullock by a blow upon the neck, should it attack from one side, but it would be extremely unlikely that it would strike any horned animal upon the head, as it would risk serious damage to the paw. We have seen that the cheetah strikes the haunch of a black-buck when coursing at full speed, and it is highly probable that the lion would exert its prodigious strength in the same manner, to stun the hind-quarters by the stroke, and, by throwing the animal upon one side, to expose the throat to the grip of the powerful jaws. All beasts of prey occasionally meet with dangerous antagonists, and should the first spring fail, the lion may find an adversary worthy of its fangs in a staunch old African buffalo, in which case the battle would be worth a journey to be witnessed. I once discovered the dislocated skeleton of a buffalo almost intermingled with the broken bones of a lion, the skull of which was lying near, while the skull of the buffalo, devoid of the nasal bones, was lying within a few feet distant, gnawed by jackals and hyenas. The ground had been deeply trampled, showing the desperate character of the recent struggle, which had terminated in the death of both combatants. It is highly probable that two lions had simultaneously attacked the buffalo, who had succumbed after having vanquished one assailant. This is a very common practice among lions, to hunt in company. Mr. Oswell in South Africa had a peculiar example of this when in a day's hunting his friend Major Vardon had wounded a bull buffalo, which had retreated within the forest. The two hunters carefully followed the blood-track, but after a short advance they were startled by a succession of loud roars, which betokened lions close at hand.

There could be little doubt that the wounded buffalo had been attacked; therefore, with proper precaution, they warily approached the spot, until the exciting scene presented itself suddenly on the other side of a large fallen tree, which happily concealed the approach of the two companions.

Three lions were engaged in a life-and-death combat with the gallant old bull, who made a desperate defence, first knocking over one of his enemies, then boring another to the ground, and exhibiting a strength which appeared sufficient to defeat the combination. Suddenly the buffalo fell dead; this was the result of the original wound, as the rifle bullet had passed through the lungs.

The lions were not aware of this, and a quarrel among themselves commenced after their imagined victory. One huge beast reared to half its full height and placed its fore paws upon the body of the prostrate buffalo, while at the head and the hindquarters an angry lion clutched the dead body in its spreading paws, and growled at the possessor of the centre. This formed a grand picture within only a few yards' distance, but a couple of shots from either rifle stretched two lions rolling upon the ground, and the third, terrified at the unexpected reports, bounded into the thick covert and disappeared.

A very good sportsman named Johann Schmidt, a Bavarian who died in my service when in Africa, killed two lions in the act of attacking a giraffe. I saw the skeletons of these animals in the bed of the river Royan a few days after the incident. At that dry season of the year the Royan was devoid of water, except at certain bends where the current had scooped out a deep hole beneath the bank. Johann Schmidt was a poor man, who could not afford the luxury of first-rate rifles; he therefore did his best with most inferior arms, one of which was a light double-barrelled smooth-bore muzzle-loader No. 16. This was a French gun, for which he had given 50 francs at Cairo. By some chance, this common little weapon shot remarkably well with ball and 3 drams of powder. It became his favourite companion. He was strolling one day along the bank of the Royan in Abyssinia, looking carefully down its sandy bed, when he came near to a water-hole in the long intervals, and he suddenly heard the peculiar sounds of a great encounter. The dust was flying high in the air, and as he approached the spot, within the yellow surface of the river's bed, he saw a cloud of sand, in the centre of which was the large body and long neck of a bull giraffe struggling against the attack of two lions. One of these was fastened upon its throat, while the other was mounted upon its hind-quarters, where it was holding on with teeth and claws. Johann concealed himself behind a large tree which grew upon the bank; this abrupt margin was about 20 feet above the river's bed, and not 50 yards from the scene of a hopeless conflict.

The giraffe had no chance; and after a sharp struggle before the eyes of the well-concealed spectator, it was pulled down, and both lions commenced to growl over their contested prey. The position upon a perpendicular bank being thoroughly secure, Johann took a steady shot, and rolled one lion over, close to the dying giraffe; the other looked round for a moment, and sprang up the bank upon the opposite side of the river, but this, being perpendicular, was too high to permit of a direct retreat; a bullet from the remaining barrel struck it through the back, and paralysed the hind-quarters. The animal fell backwards upon the sandy surface of the river, and rolled over helplessly, as the hind legs had lost all power. This gave Johann time to reload, and, seeing that the lion was completely at his mercy, he descended into the river's bed and put a bullet through its head.

The giraffe was still alive, therefore another ball was necessary to complete its despatch; and Johann remained in triumph, having bagged two lions and a giraffe with a gun worth only 50 francs.

I have heard so many tales of lions which have carried away oxen from a kraal, that I have endeavoured to unravel what appears to be a mysterious impossibility. An experienced friend of mine was present when, during the night, a lion bounded over the fence of thorns which formed a protection to the camp, and seizing a full-grown bullock, it jumped the fence, carrying the victim with it.

In the confusion of a night attack the scare is stupendous, and no person would be able to declare that he actually saw the lion jump the fence with the bullock in its grip. It might appear to do this, but the ox would struggle violently, and in this struggle it would most probably burst through the fence, and subsequently be dragged away by the lion, in a similar manner to the custom already described of tigers. It is quite a mistake to suppose that a lion can carry a full-grown ox; it will partially lift the fore-quarters, and drag the carcase along the ground.

Upon one occasion I was strolling through the forest on the margin of the Settite river in Abyssinia, and I suddenly met a large bull buffalo which was exactly facing me, having probably obtained my wind beforehand. It was not more than 20 yards distant, and it threw up its wicked head with the nose pointed directly at me, in the well-known fashion which makes a shot at the forehead utterly impossible. Knowing that my double-barrelled No. 10 with 7 drams of powder would have sufficient penetration, I aimed exactly at the nostril, then fully dilated by the excitement of the animal, and fired. The shot was instantly fatal, as the hard bullet of quicksilver and lead not only passed through the brain, having entered at the nose, but it penetrated far into the neck and cavity of the chest. This was a very large beast, and knowing that the dense covert of nabbuk (Rhamnus Lotus) close by was a great resort of lions, I determined to leave the carcase for the night in the spot where it was then lying.

On the following morning I revisited the place with two of my excellent Tokrooris; we found many fresh footprints of lions in the sandy soil, and a broad trace about 4 feet wide, where the body had been dragged away. This had apparently been effected by more than one lion, as the footprints varied in size.

There was a vast mass of dense green nabbuk growing parallel with the banks of the river. This was