The man-eating lions of Tsavo

University Of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, J. H. (John Henry) Patterson

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• Publié par: enyoo
• Nombre de lectures: 24
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

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LIONSTHE MAN-EATING OF TSAVO BY H. D. S. O.LIEUT.-COL. J. PATTERSON, Zoology Leaflet 7 NATURAL HISTORYFIELD MUSEUM OF CHICAGOLeaflets of Field Museum are de-The Zoological non-technical accounts of thevoted to brief, history, distribution and life habits of animals,classification, with reference to shown in theespecial subjects Museum's exhibits. LIST OF ZOOLOGICAL LEAFLETS ISSUED TO DATE .10No. 1. The White-tailed Deer $ Birds 10No. 2. WinterChicago 10No. 3. The American Alligator 10No. 4. The Periodical Cicada Gar 10No. 5. The Alligator 10No. 6. The Wild Turkey 7. The Man-Eaters of Tsavo 50No. D. C. DAVIES, Director FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY CHICAGO, U.S.A.Field Museum of Natural History DEPARTMENT OP ZOOLOGY 1926Chicago. Leaflet Number 7 The Lions of Tsavo*Man-Eating When the visitor to the Field Museum be-pauses fore the life-like forms of the Tsavo it willman-eaters, be hard for him to realize that these two ferocious brutes killed and under the mostdevoured, appalling one hundred and Indian andcircumstances, thirty-five African artisans and laborers in the con-employed struction of the For over nineUganda Railway. months these insatiable monsters carried on an inter- the andmittent warfare all thoseagainst Railway in ofconnected with it the Tsavo. Thisneighborhood culminated in a of terror" whenregular "reign they succeeded in the works for afinally bringing railway time to a standstill.complete A late President of the United thatgreat States, —man with the wonderful Theodore Roose-personality —velt has it on record that "the of the Man-put story Eaters of Tsavo is far the most remarkable accountby of which we have record while that veteran;"any big This Col. J. H. recountsleaflet, prepared by Patterson, the main events of his remarkable withexperiences man-eating lions told at in his well-known bookgreater lengthpreviously "The Man-Eaters of Tsavo." In Col. Patterson1924, delivered a lecture in the Field Museum. At that time he remarkedpublic to President of the that he stillStanley Field, Museum, possessed skins of the famous killers of men. As athe wereresult, they Mr. Field and to thepresented Museum. Withpurchased by to the of theconsiderable weredifficulty, owing age skins, they mounted and are now in thepermanently preserved spirited shown in the illustration.group accompanying [89]2 Field Museum op Natural History hunter and African who wasgame pioneer, Selous, himself killed in not far from wrote asAfrica, Tsavo, —follows : "No lion that I ever heard or read instory equals its sustained dramatic interest the of thelong story of Tsavo. It is an ofman-eaters terribleepic tragedies over several months andout at lastspread only brought end the resource andto an determination of oneby man." These remarkable lions had the distinction, prob- wild ofably unique among animals, being specifically referred to in the British Parliament the Primeby Minister of the the of inwhoday, Marquis Salisbury, for the in the construction of theapologizing delay —said:Uganda Railway "The whole of the works were to a be-put stop of lions incause a thepair man-eating appeared locality a forand conceived most unfortunate taste our work- the labourersmen. At last declined toentirely carry were ironon unless entrenchments.they guarded by is difficult to work a underOf course it theserailway conditions and until we found an enthusiastic sports- ourman to rid of these lions was seri-get enterprise hindered."ously Work Begins at Tsavo. When I landed at I toMombasa, fully expected encounter trials and while inmany hardships engaged the an and sav-railway through inhospitablebuilding I difficulties,age territory. anticipated engineering from sunstroke and afevers, possible scarcityperils —of food and but never for a moment did Iwater, realize that the African wilderness held in its mys- recesses two demons who lookedterious prowling upon and workmen as a sort of manna sent downmyself my from Heaven for their delectation. All otherspecial difficulties were as to the terrible tollnothing compared [90]3Man-Eating Lions theseof human sacrifice exacted nightly by savage andmonsters who made Tsavo their headquarters gave to that district an evil which lasts to this day.repute Rail-the of the UgandaMombasa, starting point andis an old Arab withfringed palmsway, city washed the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. Upby to the time of arrival in I hadAfrica,my tropical to a desolate shore, sandy, rock-strewn,pictured myself with a sun beneatheverythingscorching burning up but first view of Mombasa me a pleasantit, my gave Green verdure abounded far as the couldeyesurprise. while flat-roofed houseswhite, peepedreach, dazzlingly out between tall cocoanut and trees,spreading mango and a most de-waving palms huge baobabs, forming and beautiful framed a darklightful picture, against of well-wooded verdant hills. The oldbackground was bathed in brilliant sunshine and was reflectedtown in the motionless sea.dreamily At the time of railhead hadmy arrival, just about one hundred and milesreached Tsavo, thirty found that a fedfrom the coast. Here it was river, of Mountfrom the snowseverlasting Kilimanjaro, across the track. The river ran in the centersurged of a wide and worn in the coursedeep depression, away of and this rift had to be means ofages, spanned by a I was to build this and tobridge. deputied bridge out all the works in the district.engineeringcarry After a few at I set outdays Mombasa,spending for For miles or so aftertwentymy headquarters. the the woundleaving coast, railway steadily upwards onthrough beautifully wooded, park-like country, and, back out of the I couldlooking carriage window, every now and then obtain views of whilelovely Mombasa, the Indian Ocean in the sun-beyond sparkled glorious as far as the could reach.shine eye Soon, however, whole character of thethe country changed. Green, well-wooded to a wilder-smiling, uplands gave place [91]4 Field Museum of Natural History ness covered with scrub and stunted andbushy trees, with a of fine red dust whichlayercarpeted penetrated into nook and Towards dusk wecranny.every Tsavo and I felt somewhat thereached depressed by desolation and loneliness of new Imy surroundings. that in a little hut which had beenslept night palm somebuilt and was for-by previous traveller, for the time It was rathertunately unoccupied being. andbroken-down not even adilapidated, possessing Iand as on narrow bed I could seedoor, lay my camp the stars the broken roof. I littletwinkling through knew then what adventures awaited me in this neigh- if I had realized that at thatborhood; and, timevery two brutes weresavage prowling round, seeking whom I think Idevour, should havethey might hardly soslept peacefully. The next I was to makemorning up betimes, eager with new im-firstacquaintance my surroundings. My on out of the hut was Ithat waspression coming hemmed in on all sides with a dense ofgrowth impene- trable on to the of a little hilljungle; scrambling top close at I found that the whole as far ashand, country I could see was covered with stunted thicklow, trees, and "wait-a-bit" thorns. The clear-undergrowth only to be where the narrow tracking, indeed, appeared for the had been cut. This interminablerailway nyika, or wilderness of whitish and leafless dwarf trees, pre- sented a and sun-stricken here andghastly appearance ; there a of heat-blistered rockridge dark-red, jutted out above the and added its barren-jungle, rugged ness to the dreariness of the to thepicture. Away north-east stretched the unbroken line of the N'dungu while far off to the south I couldEscarpment, just catch a of the ofglimpse snow-capped top towering The one offeature theKilimanjaro. redeeming neigh- borhood was the river from which Tsavo takes its name this is a cool and; swiftly-flowing stream, always [92]