A LION HUNTER'S STORIES

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 272, 10 August 1908, Page 8

A LION HUNTER'S STORIES

WHY BITES ARE PAINLESS. WHAT MR.. SELOUS SAYS. "No other single observer has left a record of the lion of such value to tho naturalist as Mr.' Selous," says President Roosevelt in the interesting "foreword" which he has written for "African Nature Notes and Reminiscences," and no one will be disposed to quarrel with the President's verdict on this very attractive book. > It throws new light upon the lion, the great tawny-maned ' cat which is entering upon the last light of -its life now that civilisation is opening up the last dark quarters of the earth do rapidly. To bo killed by a lion is to suffer what is practically a painless ' death. What Lions Know. "Jn the caso of Europeans, at any rate, who probably , possess highly strung nervous systems, all the first-hand evidence I have been able to gather goes to prove that the bite of a lion or a tigor is practically painless. I imagino that the reason of this is that the tremendous energy exerted by a lion in biting is equivalent to a heavy blow which produces such a shock to the nervous system-that- all sensation is for the time boing deadened, as:it would be by a heavy blow from a sledge-hammer. "There is no doubt, I think that lions know that the head, throat, and back of the neck, aro tl;e.,.most vital spots in all animals 011 which .they prey. • Human beings are nearly always seized by the head or neck; horses, donkeys, and zebras aro almost invariably killed by bites in tho back of tho neck just behind the ears or by bites in tlio throat; whilst they either dislocate the necks of - heavy animals . like buffaloes or hold them in such ■ a way that , they can hardly help falling and breaking their own necks. ■

"I havo known of two instances of men having been seized at night by the shoulder. This, I think, is likoly to happen to a sleep■ing man lying ion his side with one shoulder raised.'"' Lion versus Horse. "I have never seen any evidence of a lion's killing its prey by striking it a heavy blow with one of its paws, and I believo that it always endeavours to kill, by biting, and only uses its claws for holding or pulling an animal to its mouth. "I have known several instances of a lion overtaking a horse, that had only had a short .start. In such a case a lion will not land with a flying leap right on to a horse's back. "It gallops close along the ground until it is- almost opposite ■ the horse's tail, and then, : rearing itself upon its hind legs, seizes it on either flank, endoavouring to hold it with the protruded claws of its great forepaws. But almost invariably in such a caso it fails to stop a galloping horse, its claws simply cutting great gashes through skin and flesh." Mr. Selous : gives a graphic account of tho terrible tragedy which befell when Mr. Ryall was killed on the Uganda Railway. "The railway carriage- in question, which contained a small saloon ana an adjoining servants' compartment, had been pulled on to a siding, in order to give its occupants (Mr.-Huebner, Mr. Paroriti, and Mr. Ryall) a chance of getting a shot at a mandating lion. "There was a small window on each side of the little- saloon, and a sliding-door at the end of the carriage. -Both the windows and the door were wide open. Mr. Ryall took the first' watch, and seems to havo taken up a position on one of the seats of the carriage, ; with his back ■to the open window. His - head and shoulders would therefore probably have been visible_ to tho eyes of a nocturnal animal from outside.

Fight With a Lion. "Mr. Huebner turned in and went to sleep in,one of the top berths in the carriage, and Mr. Parenti made his bed on the floor. It is probable, I think, that Mr. Ryall also went to slebp after a time. What happened afterward?-1 will now relate as it was told to me by Mr. Parenti.' " 'I was awakened Worn a sound sleep by the sensation of a weight' holding me down o.\ the floor, and for a moment was unable •to move. Then ■ the weight was taken off me, and I raised, my head with a jerk. My face immediately came in contact with a soft, hairy body, and I became conscious 0f..,a disagreeable smell. In an instant I realised that there was a. lion in the railway carriage, and that at that moment it was killing poor Mr: Ryall, as I heard a sort of gurgling noise, the only sound he ever made.' " Mr. Huobner seem 3 to have awakened at the'same time, and to have at once jumped down on to the floor of the carriage, where he and Mr. Parenti and the lion wero all mixed .up together. ' ■ " At this time the'weight of the lion and the struggling men combined slightly tipped the carriage to one side, causing the sliding door to close automatically. Dead Body Carried OR.; "Mr. Parenti, as soon as ho could collect' his thoughts, made his escape from the carriage through the'open window opposite to the one'against which poor Mr. Ryall had been sitting when tho lion seized him, and Mr. Huebner burst open tho door communicating with the smaller compartment occupied by Mr. Ryall's two Indian servants, who, having become aware that there was a lion in the other room with the 'Sahibs,' were holding the door against tho crowd with all their strength. "The windows of the carriage on the Uganda Railway are small, but after having killed Mr. Rya.ll, this lion—a big male— succeeded in carrying off his body through tli'e comparatively. small opening. It nrobably nover relaxed its hold on his throat until it had got his dead body safely out of.tho carriage and pulled it away to some distance. . "A man-eating lion usually proves to bo an old and almost worn-out beast, which, having grown' too weak to catch and kill its usual'prey,-'has'been driven by hunger to approach the haunts of men."