The Wide World Magazine, Vol. 22, No. 132, March, 1909Various
History
The Wide World Magazine, Vol. 22, No. 132, March, 1909
Various
Adventure stories -- Periodicals; English periodicals; History, Modern -- 20th century -- Periodicals; Voyages and travels -- Periodicals
Abyssinia is now the great lion-hunting ground. The best lions were
those obtained from the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, but this
species is now practically extinct. At Mr. Hagenbeck's depôt there are
at present some forty-six lions of all ages. They have come from the
Congo, from the Egyptian Soudan, from Senegal, and from South and
East Africa. Some of these animals are worth as much as three hundred
pounds apiece. In the same section there may also be seen some
twenty-two tigers, representing several very rare species. There
are some, for instance, from Siberia, magnificent creatures, with
beautifully-striped coats, and worth over two hundred pounds apiece.
Tigers are captured as cubs and also when fully grown; often the
animal hunter, to the delight of the natives, will entrap some
much-dreaded man-eater. Tigers are caught in large pitfalls, and
various methods of securing the animals when once they are in the pit
are adopted. In some cases a strong wooden trap is fixed in the pit,
and when the animal falls through the lightly-covered mesh at the top
it traps and cages itself automatically. In others it merely falls
into a big hole, and has to be secured and dragged out by ropes. In
certain parts of India the natives are so daring that they will place
a collar, from which hang a number of twenty-foot ropes, round the
neck of a newly-caught tiger. To the end of each a man will hang on
for dear life, and by pulling against each other guide the infuriated
brute along the path they wish it to follow. In this way they
literally walk the tiger to market.
[Illustration: A HERD OF DIMINUTIVE WILD HORSES FROM ASIA--THEY COST
MR. HAGENBECK TEN THOUSAND POUNDS TO OBTAIN.
_From a Photograph._
]
Everyone knows how they catch elephants in India--by driving them into
a kheddah or stockade, and then sending in trained elephants to subdue
their newly-caught brethren--so that no description of this method
need be given here. Naturally, no dealer would ever dream of
organizing an expedition to hunt this great creature, save, perhaps,
the African variety, which is now very rare and valuable. In the
course of a single year Mr. Hagenbeck will dispose of as many as
thirty to fifty elephants. On one occasion he received a cable
ordering thirty, and they were duly shipped by the next steamer.
[Illustration: A CARAVAN HALTED FOR REST.
_From a Photograph._
]
Some few years ago the famous dealer had a remarkable experience
with an African elephant, which stood eight feet in height and was a
magnificent creature of its kind. It was sold to the proprietor of
an American circus, who was then touring in Europe. Mr. Hagenbeck's
instructions were to send the animal by rail from Hamburg to Dresden.
A special wagon was ordered to convey the creature, and when all was
ready it was walked from the depot down to the station.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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