LIONS AND HUNS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 235, 15 December 1916, Page 1 (Supplement)

LIONS AND HUNS.

/ WILDS OF EAST AFRICA

ALARUMS AND EXCURSIONS

By Driver F. G. Spencer-Scarr in the Daily Mail.

The Huns in German East Africa aro hopelessly out of the running, and the longer they ktvp u.s in this country the worse it will be for them. It takes them all their time to keep their Askaris together, and when it comes to a fight the.y (the Askaris) have to be freely given drink to keep up their courage and make them hold on. Of course we have our disadvantages, and the greatest of these is the long distances we have to cart everything in the nature of supplies for troops. This naturally gives the Germans a bit of a spell, for they have ths railway to help them. But our people are gradually closing in around them and the end is sure. It is only a question of

time. For the last four weeks we have baen moving about in the heart of the big game country, in the land where RoosOvelt and others spend thousands to come and shoot big game, and for the Last ten days I have been station, ary in the middle of it, seeing Nature in its really wild state. lam in charge of two cars that are in attendance on a /water-boring machine, boring lor water in the heart of-the wilderness, and not a day passes without us bumping, so to speak, into wild game galore, . from the humble buck to the lordly i lion. Driving down to where we draw i water—a hole in the wilderness—yon I never know, as you turn a corner in the long six-foot grass among the trees, what is waiting for' you there, so it is ,1 matter of great caution, for the place is abounding in lions especially. The first week we were here the nights were made hideous by their roaring, and, camped as we were among timber in the middle of a little clearing in the grass, we were wondering what would happen, for it takes a little time to get one's camp in order, and I am afraid tk\re was little bleep for any of our party on the- first night. The fun began on the second morning. About 3 o'clock there were shots and yells, ana, jumping out with rifles +'i face the foe, as we thought, we found that one of our gentries had very nearly been caught by a lion that had get within 10 feet of him. Fortunately he saw it, and began blazing away for all he was worth. I assure you, the Indian had turned white. This was soldiering with a vengeance, and things began to get interesting. Sure enough, the next day the other car coming up passed within five yards of a huge lion on the roadside, so the driver turned back with me, but the monster had gone. He had been icoding on a donkey that he had evidently Stolen from a convoy passing in the night.

EAGER FOR A TROPHY.

After that you can imagine how my eyes were opened, and I am fain to confess I paid more attention to the grass than the road and very nearly bad a spill or two, for I was determined to have a lion, as to hear them in the nights in dozens and then go home without a trophy seemed rather annoying. Hence I iwas very keen. Sure enough, my patience was rewarded, for, the following day. as I passed the same spot, there sat his lordship busily engaged in his feed of donkey, and I passed him very slowly within 12 teet. This is nol an exaggeration, but an absolute fact; and, as I passed him, he turned his huge head and looked at me as much as to say, "Don't you try anv of your nonsense on me!" It was very much like a warning look. Jmajriiie my feelings at thus being practically on terms of close intimacy with this dread beast that we have always read about from boyhood up. W ell. I pulledi up the car 50 yards from him, but left the engine running in case 1 had to leave suddenly and for ten "niinutes we looked at each, other, till he apparently came to the conclusion that I was to be trusted. 1 was going* to lire, but thought if 1 only .v minded him and he got nasty, 50 yards was not much of a start, so I went another 50. Ail this time he was still engaged with the donkey, so 1 waited till he stood up, and when he did I got a scare, for he was an enormous brute—as big as a donkey. But, as he showed signs of anxiety, I thought it advisable to do something before he took a fancy to another donkey. So, taking steady aim, I let go at where his heart is supposed to be. lor a moment lie stood still. I thoguht I had missed, and was ready to run, when he slowly sank down. I thought for ont moment and then slowly backed the car, !but seeing lie was l.adly hit decided to wait for the other car to come along before giving his final exit from this \ale ot tears, .which we did 10 minutes atfer. You can imagine my pride (lor which I hope 1 may be forgiven) as I stood looking at the monster—he measured yt't. "in. from tip of nose t" tail—and thought, "This is my first lion. It i, worth everything else on the trip to have got one lion, and I feel proud jjnd look down on anything else. \\ hat oh. I have also got a giraffe, zebra, and oilier game in quantities, but i.ie hon eclipses all, and I shall now fee. redoubtable.

ONLY A YELL HEART). To-morrow we propose taking a day o'ft and "oing round, for to-day I was j„ tvallv stalked by one (a lion), who kept following the car along the road, no doubt wondering what was the new sort of animal that had no Tioau o: But it is getting beyond a joke. Acouple of days ago one ot the men on a- convov wont off the road toi n ir.inute, and was never seen agiin. There was nothing but a ye.l; that wa- all. . . !t is madness dung things lik-' tin-. lint th ■ voiing fellows always are reau\ .for adventure, and know too much, and will not be warned. Of course, m i motor car, provided you keep you" eves oi)on. vou have a big advantage f,:r everything is in yor favour, and Mr. VA'w has no chanco. What I am now anxious to get is a i<>' tl crr . aie plenty a.boi j . and tnrtr tr-icks are visible all around our cimn ir the morning. 1 suppose I shall get. on- one dav. but from all T hear they

arc more savage and vicious tTian the lions, and in going after them the greatest risk is from overhead, for they drop down from the trees on their game.

You wiil say that this sort of life is ii peculiar one for a soldier, and that my lot has fallen in pleasant piacoe, hut there is another side to be seen. \\ o never know when our camp may he attacked at night by the enemy, hence every night there is a guard posted near the camp and another seme distance away. The worst enemy, however, is fever, fyr wo are in the hoart of the fever country, and tho men are going down in hundreds, poor fellows. In our little cajnp two have already gone under, and to-morrow I am to send in another, -who is very bad. This malarial fever saps the energy and strength out of a man, and loaves him for years with the germs still in this system. So far, I have never had a day or an hour that I have not felt absolutely fit, and my one hop? ii that I will go right through without anything of the sort.