MAULED BY A LION.

Grey River Argus, 18 December 1911, Page 7

MAULED BY A LION.

AN -KXCITIXG ADVEXTLRL While travel iing aloaifi- the. banks of .1 small river known as the Kalanyas^j/ in Afuca, the Duke Adolphus Frederick of MecklcnbuTg- .galloped ahe,ui of his paity in the hope of gett ting a snapshot a ta rtroop of zebras.* la his book "In the Heart ot Africa," he tells' the. s tarn-ling-, tale of what, folio, wed. "Suddemly 1 heard successive shots behind me :n the distance. As I had an understanding with Wintgens that no 'game except buffaloes and lioois wa 3 to be fiied at, 1 knew that The shots must mean the presence of one or the other. So I turned back and soon caught^ sight of Wintgens accompanied by two Askan coming- to-w-ards me with mfles ready. "The herr lieutenant has shot a lion," shouted one. "\Vhci.e is he hiding ?" 1 asked. « "1 do not know- we have lost him hero *n the mountain." There could he no doubt that the lion was lying- between Winbgens and me. It seemed almost as if he pursueira had' passed ovier Jum as ho was crouching- m tha grass- Suddenly ] one of the Askari at my side stopped sharply, amd with chaa-acteristic gesture pointed his index fing<er toward {he tall reed-grass by tlie river, and yelled out "Look, bana suitani, many, many l.'ons ! " i Indeed, I actually beheld five lions hurrying to, the protectin river with that heiavy, slouching 1 gait peculiar to their kind. "With one shotl Wintgens finished the, earthly career of a lioness One of the others vanisKcd into ihe reeds. One of the Askari, a Masai, who was not enamoured of peaceful puisu.ts, a splendid, grand-looking^ fellow, like all his warlike 1 , iace, ap l pro ached the sciub in most fearless fashion. On a sudden the- bloodcuidhng roar of a lion resounded tlmco tunes in quick succession, and tnc boast &pnin.g out with flattened eaj- 3 and gaping- jaws light among us. Wo all fell back except the Masai, who was a few paces off on my left. Shouting joud, amd mad with excitement, 'he stu etched out h.s lefi arm, m winch he held his :ifle, agiainst the lion. lSut tha beast seized him in tlie twinkling ol an cje. The next moment they were lolling together like a ball on the ground. At t(he same instant 1 i«.iiscd my gun to my shoulder and igave the, Lon a. bullet, 'and ths paces; but the aim was bad, and the beast, with two great; bounds, fled back, 'growling wvJo the scrub before 1 could think of a seamd shot. The Masai lay on the ground stieam ing Ijlod, but had sustained no really serious, injury. 1 hastened to bandage the ncany-scnselicss man as be^t 1 could, to staunch the flow r of blood. A draught of wate:, coupled with mci,edible stoicisim,' enabled him to iecuij^ratc i o quickly that he sustained the five-hour return jouirney to the camp without collapsing-.