CAPTURING LION CUBS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 140, 9 December 1911, Page 10 (Supplement)

CAPTURING LION CUBS

AX JXDIAX STORY. . .Munchausen lnul an adventure with a lion which appears quite tame in comparison with the doings of an Indian 1 I'*, Nizam Shall, who recounts his -story in Sarasvati (Allahabad): The hunter followed a trail through a rock ravine until he came to a point where the jungle was dense and the rocks/rose high on all sides. He climbed a tree to reconnoitre, and from his high porch gazed right into the cave into which the lioness had jumped. It was now dark, so Xizam made himself as secure as he could in the tree till day dawned. The lioness left her den shortly after daybreak, but he could not get a shot, and an hour after her departure began slowly to make his way to the cave. The rest of the story is given in the narrator's own words:'On looking into the pit I found the lioness' two cubs—about as large as cats—playing with each other. This spectacle delighted my heart .... but since the cave was about eight cubits deep and the rock was perfectly perpendicular, I felt puzzled as to'how to get into it. After much cogitation I found that a low branch of a tree was hanging part away into the pit. This would help me to get down. I deposited my gun on the rock and made up my mind to use the limb of the tree to assist me in entering the cave. My weight made the branch hang a little lower down, and I was able to reach the bottom of the hole. Presuming that their mother had returned, the cubs came out of their nook and slowly walked over to where I was. Thereupon I took off my coat and bound the little beasts up in it, then taking hold of it I began to figure how I could get away with my booty. Now for the first time I missed the branch of the tree which had helped me to descend. But, horror of horrors, it was not within my reach. After I had got down, the minute my weight was removed it had resumed its former,position, leaving me absolutely helpless. Now I began to hear a noise which I at once took to be proceeding from the lioness. I quietly sat down. Instead of looking into the cave, she turned her back toward it, being attracted by the rifle which I had deposited upon a, stone roaring at it in a terrifying manner. The rays of the sun, falling directly upon the steel barrel, made the gun shine brightly, and claimed the attention of the big beast, who switched her tail, which was hanging into the pit. ' My very desperation made me think and act fast. lat once grabbed hold of the tail that was hanging over the edge of the pit. The lioness gave a jump, and quick as a flash I was landed outside, and, as luck would have it, near my rifle. I had the presence of mind left to grasp the gun anl fire it at the lioness, and killed her instantly. After this the rest was easv.