Excellent description of the charging lion:

"When a lion is in the act of charging, he first puts his ears back, and the males bristle their manes up into a kind of hood, and his tail, stiff as a rod, is lifted vertically.

"When attacking from close quarters he is very quick in all his movements; but if he is farther off he will approach first at a trot, his gaze fixed on you; then he will break into a fast gallop . . . .

"It is a magnificent, fearfully wonderful spectacle - it electrifies your nerves and will live in your memory for ever!

"But I don't want any more of it; I don't like the charging lion!"

--Kálmán Kittenberger, Big Game Hunting and Collecting in East Africa, 1903-1926

Kittenberger killed many lions, and was mauled badly by one, so he knew whereof he spoke.

After the mauling, he staggered back to camp, on foot of course, covered in blood.

His rifle, a 7mm Mauser, and his right arm and hand holding it, had been thoroughly bitten and mauled. His right arm was spewing blood from a severed artery.

The middle finger of that hand had been all but bitten off, and had been left dangling by a shred of flesh.

Kittenberger tied a tourniquet around his arm, bathed his wounds with a cotton cloth and boiled water and took stock of his finger.

In the words of the editor of the above-cited volume:

"Calling for a skinning knife, he amputated [the finger] before the shock of the mauling wore off and called for a small bottle of preservative. With the care he took with all his scientific specimens, he dropped the amputated finger into the bottle, sealed it and added it to his collection for shipment to the Museum at Budapest."

What a guy!

Very interesting. Thanks.

quote:

Kittenberger tied a tourniquet around his arm

What a puss.

HA! They don't run studs like Kittenberger any more, Will, and you well know it! Hunting lion, elephant, rhino, buff, leopard and everything else all by himself with just his lone rifle.

shakari, that photo really puts the picture to Kittenberger's words.

BTW, as if it needed saying, I highly recommend his book. Many excellent early books on African hunting were written by non-English hunters, and Kittenberger's is one of them.

he had balls hunting lion with a 7x57 not my cup of tea

quote:

Originally posted by mrlexma:
HA! They don't run studs like Kittenberger any more, Will, and you well know it! Hunting lion, elephant, rhino, buff, leopard and everything else all by himself with just his lone rifle.

shakari, that photo really puts the picture to Kittenberger's words.

BTW, as if it needed saying, I highly recommend his book. Many excellent early books on African hunting were written by non-English hunters, and Kittenberger's is one of them.

I think Kittenberger was one of the true survivors of his day. So many others perished.

It is also a testiment to Capstick for reprinting the book, which I think is one of the very best of that era.

That's a book I've been wanting to read. Thanks for the excerpt. A lot of those guys were just tougher than nails...rare breed these days.