The Lion and the Elephant. Charles John Andersson

      CONTEXTS.

      CHAPTER IV.

      GREGARIOUS HABITS OP THE ELEPHANT—LARGE HERBS—-HAUNTS —HABITS IMITATIVE FACULTIES—A SQUADRON OF ELEPHANTS —FOOD ON WHICH THEY SUBSIST—TREES UPROOTED BY ELE- PHANTS—NOT A RUMINATING ANIMAL—QUANTITY OF WATER DRUNK BY THE ELEPHANT—THROWING WATER OVER THE BODY —PROTECTION FROM THE SUN…………………………………...……286

      CHAPTER V.

      STALKING GENERALLY DESCRIBED—THE AUTHOR'S OWN EX- PERIENCES—TRACKING THE ELEPHANT—FATIGUE OF ELEPHANT- SHOOTING—QUALITIES REQUISITE IN AN ELEPHANT-HUNTER— PARTY OF OVAMBOES—SUCCESSFUL STALKING—NOTES FOR THE GUIDANCE OF ELEPHANT-HUNTERS………………………..…………..301

      CHAPTER VI.

      ELEPHANT-HUNTING ON HORSEBACK—HARRIS'S EXPERIENCES— ADVENTURES OF GORDON CUMMING—DANGERS TO WHICH THE MOUNTED ELEPHANT-HUNTER IS EXPOSED—DOGS HARDSHIPS ENDURED BY THE HUNTER ON HORSEBACK ……………..……………327

      CHAPTER VI.

      ELEPHANT SHOOTING AT NIGHT—AMBUSHING FOR GAME—THE AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCES AT THE "SCREEN" —DANGERS ATTEND- ANT ON NIGHT-SHOOTING—PERSONAL ADVENTURES—A CRITICAL POSITION—A SUCCESSFUL NIGHT'S SHOOTING—AN EVENTFUL EPOCH OF MY LIFE…………………………………………….…………339

      CHAPTER VIII.

      HAMSTRINGING OF ELEPHANTS BY THE CAFFRES—BRUCE'S AC- COUNT—THE PITFALL—USE OF POISONED JAVELINS—THE RHINOCEROS, THE ELEPHANT'S ENEMY—COMBATS BETWEEN MALE ELEPHANTS—-STRUCK BY LIGHTNING—THE CHASSE IN ABYSSINIA—THE AGGAJEERS—THEIR MANNER OF KILLING THE ELEPHANT—FREEMASONRY AMONG HUNTERS ……………….……...358

       CONTENTS.

      CHAPTER IX.

      CASUALTIES TO ELEPHANT-HUNTERS—DEATH OF WAHLBERG— CAREL KRIEGER'S FATAL ADVENTURE—REVENGE OF A WOUNDED ELEPHANT—REMARKABLE ESCAPE OF LIEUTENANT MOODIE— LIFE OF THE ELEPHANT-HUNTER—DANGERS AND HARDSHIPS TO WHICH HE IS EXPOSED—MAD WAGER AND ITS FATAL RESULT—ELEPHANT-HUNTING, BLOODY AND UNDESIRABLE WORK……………………………………………………………….……371

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      ILLUSTRATIONS.

      THE AFRICAN LION……………………………………...Frontispiece

      LION ATTACKED BY DOGS ……………………………….…….163

      THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT………………………………..….…..239

      A FURIOUS CHARGE……………………………………………..309

      THE LION.

      CHAPTER I.

      INTRODUCTION—PLACES WHERE THE LION IS FOUND—LION HUNTS IN AFRICA AND IN ASIA DISTINCT SPECIES—NUMEROUS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA—DESCRIPTION OF THE LION AND LIONESS— THE FACULTIES OF THESE ANIMALS—THE LION'S ROAR SIZE AND WEIGHT—IMMENSE STRENGTH COMPARED WITH THAT OF THE BENGAL TIGER—DOGS VERSUS THE LION—THE LION'S PACES.

      A

      LTHOUGH both in "Lake Ngami," and "The River Okavango," many of my adventures with the Lord of the African wilds are recorded, much remains to be told of his habits, modes of life, &c., some of which, perchance, may not have been noticed by other travellers and sportsmen.

      The number of lions actually killed by myself have not, it is true, been very great. Neither in- clination nor circumstances permitted me to devote much time to their destruction. When leisure per- mitted, the chase of the Elephant probably the most exciting and hazardous of African sports was my favourite pursuit; I may however safely say, I never hesitated to attack the lion when he crossed my path. Still I have seen him lace to face when he has been infuriated by the anguish of mortal wounds, have felt his breath fanning my cheek in the

      THE LION.

      dead of the night, have assisted in depriving him of his prey when maddened with hunger, have met him in the ready swamp and in the dense jungle, have "stalked" the antelope in his company, have seen him pull down the stately giraffe, have roused him in the midst of his "children," and encountered him under many other circumstances—and without taking undue credit to myself, I therefore think I am in some degree, at least, qualified to judge of the royal beast and his habits.

      The lion is found from within one hundred miles or so of the Cape of Good Hope to the shores of the Mediterranean, in short, through nearly the length and breadth of Africa. As regards the more southern portion of that continent, however, it is a very generally received opinion with both colonists and natives that there are two distinct species of this animal, viz., the so called "black-maned" and the "yellow-maned" lion; the former being de- scribed as the longest in the body, and the latter as the larger in regard to general proportions. The dark colour of the mane of the "black-maned lion" they furthermore say, is not attributable in any way to age the cause usually assigned by natu- ralists—but it is of that hue from the first; and this, their view of the matter, is in some degree corroborated by a circumstance that came to my personal knowledge, and for the correctness of which I can vouch. Two lions were shot on the same spot, and almost at the same instant of time, Both were full grown; but one was young, whilst the other was so old that lie had merely the stumps

      SPECIES OF THE LION

      of his teeth remaining, and yet the manes of both were similar—that is blackish.

      Besides the so called black and yellow-maned lion, the Anna Zulu Caffirs, whose opinions are by no means to be despised, distinguish between the grey or white, the red and the grey-necked lion (called by the Boers the blue- necked), which they say is peculiarly savage; and, in addition, both hunters and natives make mention of a maneless lion.

      In Damora-land again, the inhabitants speak of two kinds of lion. One of a whitish hue, maneless and very long in the body, and hence designated by them the Onkyama Ombaske, that is the lion-giraffe; and the other as of a brownish, or of the usual tawny colour, short in the body, and of a fierce disposition. This they call Onkyama Okomba.

      But the late Sir Cornwallis Harris (then captain), who, as the reader may be aware, spent some time in Southern Africa on a shooting excursion, alto- gether gainsays the notion of two species of lions being found there; for, after telling us "that, with the exception of the mane of the African lion being often larger and of a finer texture than that of the Indian, attributable probably to the less jungly nature of the country it infests, and to the more advanced age to which it is allowed to attain, it is in every respect (and often in this respect also), precisely similar to that found in Guzerat in India." He goes on to say, "But I need hardly inform the well-instructed