Hunting Lions In Africa

THE perils of hunting lions in Africa are graphically described in a recent letter in London Field by one of a party of English sportsmen who were hunting along the Uganda railroad. He says:

We started from Makindu with a caravan of 100 porters, marching northwest toward the Lukania hills, striking the Alki river. For several days we found plenty of game except lions.

Finally one time while in camp we were suddenly awakened about 1 o'clock a. m. by the porters shouting and rushing all over the place, and I was just in time to see a white mass disappear down the river bank. It appears a porter had left his tent when he saw not ten yards away a big lion, He rustled back within the "borna" shouting "Simba!" This awakened the rest of the camp, and no sooner had he done so than the beast sprang upon his tent, under which were six other porters sleeping, and as he tore this out of the ground they rushed from beneath, and away he went, tent in mouth, thinking, I have no doubt, of he succulent black feast therein contained. There was no more sleep for us that night on account of the noise and "jabbering" of the porters. We discovered the tent next morning torn to shreds two miles northwest of the camp in the direction of the Thika river.

We heard later on that a well known official who is out here prospecting had a similar experience, but unfortunately in his case the porter was carried off inside the tent. He tracked the beast next morning for two miles into some scrub, came up with him and shot him at twenty-five yards. Needless to say, there was very little left of the poor porter.

Shortly after this we received word from Fort Hall that there were nine lions near the swamp on which that camp was pitched. Two porters had been taken out of the same camp only four days previously by them. The following day, Aug. 5, acting on the advice from Fort Hall, it was decided to take fifty porters and beat out this swamp, which is about four miles long. We started at 9 o'clock a. m., A. B. on one side, with half the porters, and C. D. and myself on the other. with the rest of them.

Through the middle of the swamp runs a small stream, covered in with palms and thick brush. After going about a mile, the porters shouting and singing, suddenly "Crack!" rang out of A. B.'s .350 and very shortly followed by the louder report of the .450. On getting up level with him we heard he had wounded a couple of lions, one of which bad gone higher up the stream, and the other had turned Sharp back into the scrub again.

After about a quarter of an hour's careful search, none of us daring to go far into the thick scrub, suddenly one of the ascari shouted out that he could gee him. This was followed immediately by growling and snarling not four yards away, and he made a rush over to our side of the stream. The ascari who saw him shot and wounded him In the hind foot, and as he was charging up the bank at us C. V., who was not six feet away, shot him through the front of the skull, dropping him dead in the stream. Many of us must have walked within a few feet of him, and the wonder is that no one was mauled.

There was, needless to say, huge rejoicing at this our first lion, and the porters were deafening with their cheers. One of them went up to him and bit him in revenge for his dead countryman. On opening him we found his stomach absolutely gorgod with hartbeest, skin, bones and flesh, but no porter remains- not that one would expect this after four days. He had a fine mane and skin, measuring nine feet from end of nose to tip of tall. After skinning him we went on again, the porters more noisy than ever and going right into the scrub.

We had not been going more than ten minutes when crack again went A. B.'s .350 as another lion came out into the open. Down it went, and, rushing up to about thirty-five yards, he dispatched it with another shot from the .450 as the beast raised itself on its forequarters. Both shots were just behind the point of the shoulder.

This turned out to be the lion which was previously wounded. He was exactly the same size as the previous beast. At the second shot a lioness jumped out and galloped along about sixty yards away from me. I hit her in the shoulder, smashing it, and put another shot, unfortunately, far back In the stomach, whereupon she crawled into some thick reeds. I had previously seen another lion go into this same patch. I waited until they had skinned the second beast, and then A. B., who previously had been on the other side of the stream, came over to see how we we'd get the lioness out, as we dare not go into the reeds, which were smeared all over with blood.

As the lioness would not come out and none of us dared to go into the reeds it was decided to fire the long dry grass around. It had not been burning long when she began snarling and growling, and as the smoke grew thicker where she lay she went out on to the opposite bank into some very long grass. One of the ascari mounted a tree and threw branches at her, which finally dislodged her on to an open spot, where a shot through the jaw into the neck laid her low. She measured 8 feet 7 Inches.