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
The lion was unfortunately on my right, so that I could not fire except
from my left shoulder, a shot which I did not care to risk, any more
than I cared to walk backwards and expose the whole of my body at such
close quarters before I could get a sufficiently good view to enable
me to shoot from my right shoulder. Stepping back, I whispered to the
Doctor that the lion was quite close, and asked him to stand ready,
whilst I crept back to try and get a better view of it from another
point, but by the time I had struggled through a dense clump of aloes
the beast had slunk away under the shade of a black bush two or three
yards off, and I could only see the tip of its tail twitching from
side to side. It was quite impossible to make out which way the lion’s
body lay, even with binoculars, and a shot fired at the place where
I thought and hoped it might be had no effect. This made the beast
move off to more favourable ground, and after a short hunt one of
my gun-bearers saw it lying under a tree in a small opening. At the
same moment that I saw the lion it saw me, and stood up with a growl
broadside on, and I sent a Paradox bullet clean through both shoulders,
which dropped it dead on the spot. It was a fine full-grown beast, with
first-rate teeth and claws, but was remarkably thin. As the country
for many miles round was absolutely devoid of game, excepting a few
_Neotragus Kirkii_, this lion had in all probability wandered about
for several days without food, and was goaded on by hunger to make the
attack on the boy. On examination, I found my second shot with the
Winchester had only caught it in the hind foot as it leapt over the
aloe clump. The first shot which had gone through the aloe had missed
it clean, or had lost all power of penetration--at all events, there
was no mark of a bullet about its face or head.
The other instance of men being attacked in open daylight occurred near
Machako’s, in Ukambani, when a small caravan of some twenty porters
was attacked by a troop of twelve or thirteen lions, which they came
upon when on the march. When the lions charged out of the grass the men
dropped their loads and bolted, though, after the men had fired about
150 rounds of ammunition at them from a respectful distance, the lions
retired. After waiting an hour or two, the men plucked up courage and
returned for their loads. My friend, Captain J. W. Pringle, R. E.,
saw the loads when they were brought into the station, and found that
several of them had been severely mauled by the lions. In this instance
I am unable to account for such an unprovoked attack, unless the lions,
whilst lying asleep in the grass close to the footpath, were taken by
surprise and charged in self-defence, it being very improbable that
they were prompted by hunger, as game was very plentiful at the time.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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