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

an opaque screen of thorny foliage, covering an area of about 200 yards in width, but extending for a great distance. The nabbuk tree bears a small apple the size of a nutmeg, rather sweet, and pleasant to the taste; but the tangled mass, when growing upon the sandy loam near water, is absolutely impenetrable to a human being. Into this secure retreat the lions had crept, forming dark tunnels about 3 1/2 or 4 feet high, for some unknown distance.

The trace of the dragged buffalo led direct to the entrance of one of these obscure tunnels, and there could be no doubt that the carcase was within, and the lions not far distant. I have frequently looked back to absurdities that have been scathelessly committed; among these on more than one occasion I have foolishly ventured upon the exploration of a lion's retreat. With two of my Tokrooris following with spare rifles (all muzzle-loaders) I crept upon hands and knees into the dark tunnel, upon the trace of the dragged buffalo. A light double-barrelled '577 was my companion.

After a few yards the tunnel became much narrowed, and was hardly more than 3 feet 6 inches in height. The bush (evergreen) was so dense that it was very dark, and I could not see any tracks of lions upon the ground over which I crept; cautiously, advancing, with both barrels upon full cock. About 70 yards had been passed in this manner when I distinctly smelt the heavy odour of raw flesh and offal. I looked behind me, and my two men were keeping well together. There could be no doubt that the carcase of the buffalo was not far off, and it was highly probable that the lions would be in forcible possession. We crept forward with extreme caution. The faint and disagreeable smell increased, and was almost insupportable. I presently heard the cracking of a bone, and there could be no doubt that the lions were close at hand. I once more looked round to see if my men were coming on; they were both close up. We crept noiselessly forward for a few yards, and suddenly a dark object appeared to block the tunnel; in another moment I distinguished the grand head and dark mane of a noble lion on the other side of a mass which proved to be the remains of the bull buffalo; another head, of a lioness, arose upon the right, and at the same instant, with a tremendous roar, the scene changed before I had time to fire. We were alone with the remains of the buffalo, and I believe three lions had decamped, never to be seen again in the obscurity of the dense green nabbuk. We were actually in possession, having driven the lions from their prey, simply by our cautious advance, without a shot.

It required some time and trouble to cut off the head of that bull buffalo in the narrow limits of the lion's den, but it hangs upon my walls now as a trophy that might be won from a lion, but never could have been wrested in the same manner from a tiger.

Upon another occasion I crept in a similar manner into one of their dark tunnels, and shot the lion within a distance of four paces, but I never recovered the body, as the animal bounded into the dense thorny substance, which it was impossible for any human being to penetrate. The Hamran Arabs persuaded me to discontinue this kind of exploration, and my Tokrooris having taken the same view of the performance, I gave up the practice, as I did not succeed in actually bagging a lion by the attempt.

In the locality which I have mentioned, the lions, although numerous, were never regarded as dangerous unless attacked; there was an abundance of game, therefore the carnivora were plentifully supplied, and a large area of country being entirely uninhabited, the lions were unaccustomed to the sight of human beings, and held them in respect. During the night we took the precaution to light extensive bonfires within our camp, which was well protected by a circular fence of impenetrable thorns, but we were never threatened by wild animals except upon one occasion.

I was strolling in search of food, with a particular two-grooved single rifle No. 14 which was extremely accurate. Having shot a nellut (A. Strepsiceros), the animal was fixed upon a camel and immediately forwarded to camp, towards which I advanced by a circuitous direction in the expectation of finding other game. The country was perfectly flat in the vicinity of the river, and although much covered with dense bush, it was interspersed with numerous small glades, covered with parched herbage 2 or 3 feet in height. A few Tokrooris accompanied me with spare rifles (all muzzle-loaders, as the breech action had not been introduced in those days), and I was leading the way, occasionally breaking through the intervening bush, with as little noise as possible.

Suddenly, as I was only half emerged from a line of dark green nabbuk, I was surprised by a short roar close to me, and I immediately saw the shoulders and the hinder portion of a lion, the head being concealed by the bush, from which I had not completely emerged. I could have touched it by stretching out my rifle, but personally I was quite unobserved. There was not a moment to lose, and I fired through the centre of the shoulder. With a short roar the lion disappeared; there was a rushing sound in the bushes, and almost immediately another lion occupied the exact position that had been quitted by the lioness. They must have been lying down together when startled by our appearance, or rather by the noise of our approach. This was a splendid chance, but I was unloaded; I stretched my right arm behind me, expecting to receive a spare rifle from my faithful Tokrooris, but they had retreated from the scene, and I remained within 6 feet of a lion's flank with an unloaded rifle and no companion. The lion's head and neck were quite concealed by the dense green bush, and I had no other course to pursue than to reload my rifle. The first tap that I gave the bullet when ramming it home, scared the lion, and with a loud roar it sprang forward and disappeared. My recreant followers now returned, and having administered a few kicks, I took a double-barrelled rifle and we commenced a strict search for the wounded animal. Directed by a low moan, we found her within a few yards, dying; it was a lioness, but there was no trace of her companion, which had been so lately within my reach.

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