TRAGIC EXPEDITION

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12356, 28 January 1926, Page 4

TRAGIC EXPEDITION

N.Z. HUNTERS IN AFRICA DEATH. OF MR W. R. TffIGG COMPANION ARRIVES HOME (By Telegraph',—Special to “Times.”) AUCKLAND, January 27. The well-known sportsman, Mr John Holmes, of Frankton Junction, who accompanied the late Mr W. R. Twigg, of Auckland, on an expedition to the interior of Rhodesia, where Mr Twigg met his death as the result of being mauled by an infuriated wounded lion, returned on the Ulimaroa this morning. When approached by a reporter Mr Holmes said that he did not feel disposed to talk about the expedition since the tragic death of his companion had cast a' shadow over the trip that even time fcould not obliterate. Mr Holmes left New Zealand with the late Mr Twigg and Mrs Twigg on June sth of last year. On arriving in South Africa they lost no time in pushing on into the interior, and left the Kabunda river for the big game country on July 31st. From Chambesi they struck east to the Lungwa Valley watershed, and then trekked south to Mpika, which is in the Awemba territory, at the top of Northern Rhodesia, 300 miles from the railway line. SAVAGELY ATTACKED Mr Twigg met his death near Mpika on October 22nd. He came upon one of two lions which he had wounded the day before, and before he could kill the animal he was savagely attacked. He made an effort to climb a tree, but it proved futile. Mr Twigg was badly mauled, hut was still alive when the animal left him. Unfortunately, he moved an arm in order to signal to the native attendants that he was still alive. The lion noticed the movement and attacked him again, when one of the natives seized a rifle and gave the savage beast quick dispatch. The dying man had to be carried a long distance over rough country, and his life might have been saved had it been possible to place him in an iodine bath. He died of bloodpoisoning.

Had it not been for this tragic end to the expedition the trip would have been most successful, said Mr Holmes. The country in which they were shooting was teeming with big game, and altogether 126 head, including 25 different kinds of animals, were shot. Mrs Twigg. who was staying at Livingstone, Central Africa, when the fatality occurred, also returned on the Ulimaroa.