FIGHT WITH A LION.

Colonist, Volume LVII, Issue 13744, 6 April 1915, Page 2

FIGHT WITH A LION.

The Natal "Mercury" prints the following letter received by a Geimiston (Transvaal) resident from a village about 300 miles from Nairobi, British East Africa. "The advance into German Easr; Africa has really commenced, and the first important engagement took place nearly three weeks ago, when we captured the rather important post of Longido. It ivas strongly entrenched, and we eventually drove the Germans off at nightfall, when they managed to retreat with a loss of two killed and about eighteen wounded.

"We havo to tackle lions as well as Germans. The other night six of the beasts hovered round our camp, and chewed up two mules before we got going at them. We killed two and wounded a third, a mangy old pioneer, who nexfe day badly mauled one of our fellows, who went down to the stream to shoot wild fowl. The poor fellowwas taken by surprise, the wounded lion springing out of'some tall grass. H planted one shot, but unfortunately, not with fatal effect.

"The animal sprang on him and tore him up terribly. He managed to regain his rifle, and, although suffering intense pain, finished off the infuriated brute with a well-directed shot in the head, but he wat badly hurt, was H— > and iiow he got back to Magadai at all I don't know. He died three days later.1'