126 



THE OSPKEY. 



fire, nor firearms, nor lamps, nor white men. 

 One sprang- on an officer's back, tore off his 

 knapsack, and then carried off and ate a soldier 

 who was following" him. They prowled round 

 and round white men in niachans (sheltered by 

 the dark), trying- to stalk them. One was caught 

 in an ingenious trap, made of two cages of steel 

 rails, in one of which were three sepoys armed 

 with Martinis. The lions had become so used to 

 walking into huts that the trap itself was an 

 extra inducement to be bold, and thej' looked on 

 the sepoys as bait. The sepo^'s lost their heads 

 as the lion bounced about, and blazed off in 

 every direction but the right one, though they 

 could have touched the imprisoned beast with 

 their rifles. At last one bullet hit the catch of 

 the door and released the lion. Another was 

 shot in the back with slugs. A week later it 

 tried to stalk Mr. Patterson, who was sitting in 

 a tree, and after stalking" him like a Boer sharp- 

 shooter from bush to bush till within twenty 

 yards, was wounded, and next day was killed. 

 The other had been shot by Mr. Patterson 

 shorth' before, after the pair had marched round 

 and round him for two hours as he sat up over 

 a kill they had made. It was a huge maneless 

 lion 9 ft. 8 in. long and 3 ft. 9 in. high. Its last 

 meal had been an African native. The other 

 was 9 ft. 6 in. long, and 3 ft. 11 in. high. Both 

 beasts killed men solely for food, though the 

 country round swarmed with every description 

 of game dear to lions. Only when the men had 

 run away, or taken to trees, or slept in iron huts, 

 did they kill goats or donkeys. They ate every 

 portion of the men's bodies except the top of the 

 skull and sometimes the hands. It is said that in 

 the island of Singapore tigers have actually as- 

 sembled and multiplied in order to eat the Chinese 

 coolies now employed on the plantations. But 

 the records of the East do not supply an in- 

 stance in which six thousand men and a Gov- 

 ernment organisation were baffled and defied hy 

 two man-eaters. 



To what a distance the whole story carries us 

 back, and how impossible it becomes to account 

 for the survival of primitive man ag^ainst this 

 kind of foel For fire — which has hitherto been 

 regarded as his main safeguard against the car- 

 nivora — these cared nothing. It is curious that 

 the Tsavos lions were not killed by poison, for 

 strychnine is easily used and with effect. Poison 

 may have been used early in the history of man, 

 for its powers are employed with strange skill 

 by the men in the tropical forest, both in 

 America and West Central Africa. But there 

 is no evidence that the old inhabitants of 

 Europe, or of Assyria, or Asia Minor ever killed 

 lions or wolves by this means. They looked to 

 the King or chief, or some champion, to kill 

 these monsters for them. It was not the sport 

 but the duty of Kings, and was in itself a title 

 to be a ruler of men. Theseus, who cleared the 

 roads of beasts and robbers; Hercules, the lion- 

 killer; St. Georgre, the dragon-slayer, and all the 

 rest of their class owed to this their everlasting 

 fame. From the story of the Tsavos River we 

 can appreciate their services toman even at this 

 distance of time. When the jungle twinkled 

 with hundreds of lamps, as the shout went on 

 from camp to camp that the first lion was dead, 



as the hurrying crowds fell prostrate in the mid- 

 night forest, laying their heads on his feet, and 

 the Africans danced savage and ceremonial 

 dances of thanksgiving, Mr. Patterson must 

 have realized in no common way what it was to 

 have been a hero and deliverer in the days when 

 man was not j'Ct undisputed lord of the creation, 

 and might pass at anA' moment under the savage 

 dominion of the beasts. 



Law kok the Pkotkctiox of Birds in the 

 District of Columbia. The Audubon Society 

 of the District of Columbia has issued a circular 

 embod3'ing' the law in question which we have 

 been requested to published in the Osprey. 



"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of 

 Representatives of the United States of America 

 in Congress assembled * * * 



"Section 3. That no person shall expose for 

 sale or have in his or her possession dead, at 

 any time, any turkey btizzard, wren, bluebird, 

 hummingbird, blue jay, robin or migratory 

 thrush, wood or song robin, martin, mocking 

 bird, swallow, oriole, red or cardinal bird, cat- 

 bird, pewit, whip-poor-will, g-oldfinch, sapsucker, 

 hanging bii"d, woodpecker, crow blackbird, or 

 other insectivorous bird, save for scientific pur- 

 poses upon permit from the Superintendent of 

 Police of the District of Columbia, in accord- 

 ance with such restrictions as the Secretary of 

 the Smithsonian Instituttion may prescribe, and 

 excepting" the English sparrow; nor rob the nest 

 of any bird of eggs or young" or destroy such 

 nest, except in the clearing" of lands of trees or 

 brush; nor trap, net, or ensnare any wild bird 

 or water fowl mentioned in this chapter, or have 

 in his possession any trap, snare, net, or illumi- 

 nating device for the purpose of killing or cap- 

 turing any wild duck, wild goose, wild brant or 

 bird, under a penalty of five dollars for each 

 wild duck, wild goose, wild brant, or bird killed 

 or captin"ed, or bird's nest and eg"gs destroj'ed, 

 and, in default, to be imprisoned in the work- 

 house not exceeding" thirty daj's." 



Sea-birds a Sanitary Necessity. We have 

 been requested to publish the following "Ap- 

 peal to Bird lovers" emanating from a special 

 committee apjjointed by the American Orni- 

 thologists' Union. Contributions are solicited 

 and ma}' "be sent to Mr. William Dutcher, 

 treasurer of the Union, at 525 Manhattan avenue. 

 New York cit}', who will fin^nish all desired in- 

 formation." 



This country is on the verge of losing- for- 

 ever one of the main features of its seacoast 

 charms — the sea-birds themselves. In fact, the 

 Terns, the most exquisite of the Gull family, 

 and which formerly' thi"onged our whole coast, 

 have been so nearly wiped out b^' ag-ents of 

 the milliners that this 3-ear's onslaught, already 

 fully organized, will glean almost the last pair 

 from the few small breeding colonies which 

 remain, wherever these are unprotected. And 

 the larger Gulls, which are not onU' very 

 beautiful, but absolutely essential as harbor 

 scavengers, are also being decimated for the 

 same purpose. 



All these species, with their exquisite beautj-, 

 their wild voices and their most romantic lives, 



