Big Game Shooting, volume 1 (of 2)Phillipps-Wolley, Clive
General
Big Game Shooting, volume 1 (of 2)
Phillipps-Wolley, Clive
Game and game-birds; Hunting
When seen out in the open there is absolutely nothing majestic in the
bearing of lions; their heads are carried low down below the line
of their backs, as they slouch along their hind-quarters have an
appearance of weakness, and when seen from behind sway and wobble from
side to side, while the up-and-down movement of their shoulder-blades
at each step, and their general appearance of looseness, do not add to
their dignity. Certainly a maned lion, when standing broadside on or
facing, with head erect, is a grand-looking beast; but when galloping
or trotting away on being disturbed, with head held low down, there is
nothing of the majestic about him--indeed he even compares unfavourably
with a rhinoceros, which, as it trots away with tail held erect, has
the merit of looking defiant, if not altogether dignified. Perhaps
lions are seen at their worst after being wounded and brought to bay,
when as they lie crouching flat to the earth, with head slightly
raised, ears held back, and mouth open, giving vent to low snarling
growls, they by no means present a noble or awe-inspiring appearance.
In East Africa the lion is essentially a game-killer. There are,
however, a few cases on record of lions having turned cattle-killers;
but I am inclined to think that in most instances they have been
driven to it by force of circumstances, on account of the scarcity
and wildness of the game. As I have said elsewhere, nearly all the
game-beasts migrate from their favourite haunts where they have been
concentrated in large herds as long as food was plentiful. Between
March and the end of July they disperse, many of them work their way
towards the coast, become scattered over a much larger area, and are
found in smaller herds. These herds of game are naturally followed by
the lions, some of which doubtless stray away occasionally from where
the game is to be found, and are driven to killing cattle, or donkeys,
or whatever else they come across. Within the last ten years several
lions have strayed as far as Mombasa, and have even crossed over from
the mainland to the island, where they have done considerable damage
amongst the cattle, &c. In 1887 a large lion which had been on the
island for several months was killed within 200 yards of the town
by Count E. de Kegl, who tied up a bullock as a bait and shot the
lion from a tree at night. Another one was killed early in the year
1893. In Ukambani and the Masai country a few cattle are occasionally
carried off by lions, but I do not think this is a common occurrence.
I have never heard of any well-authenticated instance of lions
becoming man-eaters, though I know of two cases in which a porter has
disappeared on the march, and on men being sent back next morning to
look for him, they only found his remains, and reported the spoor of a
lion close by; but native report is not to be relied on in cases like
this.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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