LIONS RAMPANT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8092, 18 August 1904, Page 2

LIONS RAMPANT.

♦■ EXCITING INCIDENTSTSEAR PRETORIA. The statement made recently by a wellknown big-gams shooter that in Africa lions wcuid before long become; as extinct as the dodo, apparently does not apply to all parts of the Cape. " Mr Basil Tozer sends the "Sfc James's Gazette" the following verbatim extracts from an official report just received from the managing director of a 1 mining syndicate which operates not far from Pretoria *. — "Terrible things have happened here," the report 'begins, " and I can now . only submit them to you in a condensed form. About five o'cock on Sunday morning at least seven lions (counting the incoming spoors) attacked our goats, killed five and mauled three, and also one native. . . . About 2 p.m! a- boy turned ...up... badly, scratched, saying tha.'- a lion was eating his companion, so we all turned out, *four of us, followed by about a hundred Kaffirs. My three companions stirred up a lion about 200 yards north-west of the oamp. They fired several shotSj but missed, so we followed the spoor. . . . Suddenly a large lioness jumped up about sixty feet ahead of us. ' . .t . 1 fired, and hit her in the chest. She turned on her hind legs away from me and made a jump for L. Whenshe!'reached L. a, shot went off somewhere, and L. went down with the lioness on top of him. ... I did -no'iTfire-, for fear of hitting L. . . . Two more shots went off, and tho lioness kit L., and I gave her another shot As she jumped a short distance in the bush. Tj'he affair lasted only a few minutes. L. get up and ran a short distance to the rear, and I hurried to attend to him. The lioness had torn his clothes and mauled hi 3 left arm. We carried him into camp, where he died a few minutes after our arrival, about 4 p.m.' We buried him on Monday afternoon. "On Monday night we were- again attacked by lions. I had put the remaining goats in the waggon shed, and had thorni bushes piled up all. round, seven feet high, and had two lamps burning in the stable and the shed-, but the lions jumped over the thorn bushes, broke in the door, killed several goats, and stampeded the rest. We had to shoot- mostly in the air, for fear ofkilling the horses and anules in the stable. "Great panic among the boys, and they refuse to work on the night shift. " Last night (two nights later) we were onoe more attacked, but th© lions could do no damage, as we had 1 set an armed guard in the stable. .... Judging by the spoors, there were nine lions here on Sunday morning. . . . I am securing the safety of the camp as well as possible. . . . Boys cutting brush- and -»Vork)ng day shift on mine, but won't work. at night. . . . Lions have been trying to dig under the stable again. "We had another attack last night (two later), at about ten o'clock. One lion waa killed by the etable guard. I paid the boys the premium of one pound each. . . . The lioness we shot is dead also, but there are at present too maaiy lions in the bush for us to be ablo to get her skin. . . . For the last three days and nights I have had/scarcely six hours' sleep, but we hope soon to thin all these lions down. . /' I have no (food for the boys mow, except some bran. The entire camp and workings we have surrounded by a thorn, bush hedge. .' . . Lions come near the caanp even in daytime, judging from- the peculiar howl and bark of the dogs. "Last night a single lion gob into the camp. He kept very quiet. This morning we traced' his spoor. He came in near my hut, walked down the row of huts, antj went out near the dining-room hut. . " . . I have learned more about lions in the last few days than I ever heard or read about them before. Sixty-one boys left us this morning. The stable boys won't go for water unless two armed men accompany them. ■ . - • Th& two .mauled boys ara doing well. "Please have the authorities warned oi tihi3 sad affair if necessary. I don't know when I shall again be able to communicate wifch the outer world, the boys are so much afraid. ■yl should not have got mail boys at all if Mr W., who is armed, had not agreed to go along. , "Believe me, that I will do all I can to preserve human life and a.nimal life on your property, and destroy the enemy." j