Lions

I bought a book on eBay. The title is: Gerard, The Lion Killer. It is a autobiographical sketch of a Frenchman's life from 1844 and lion hunting in Northern Africa among the Arab people. The book used to be in the reference section of the Brooklyn Public Library. It was ceded from the library inventory and lucky for me, I got it.

I bought the book specifically because of the time it was addressing. The 1840's were when muzzle loading guns with percussion ignition were being used. This was the best that they had at the time. So, with a lot of courage, and I mean a lot of courage, Gerard went after lions with a gun we would think today to be only marginally adequate.

I have less interest in lion hunting than I do in the technical information I glean about the guns and loading of them for such a dangerous animal. I remember aiming at a bear in a black forest and discovering that I couldn't find my front sight! A precision shot was not possible. Just then, a movement to my left caught my eye, I looked away from the bear, only to discover that I was being watched by a much bigger bear about 20 yards away. What did I do? I slowly backed out of the forest, watching both bears. After I survived that little episode, I decided I had to do something about the sighting system. Since then, I put a low powered scope, 1.5-4.5 power, on the gun, and I mounted a powerful flashlight under the gun barrel. Now, I can illuminate a bear in the deep dark forest and have positive sight acquisition, too.

Back one hundred and sixty years ago, Gerard didn't have optical sights or means to illuminate a target in the dark. He went out during the full moon and waited until the lion crept up to within six paces, and then pulled the trigger! Yikes!! He was using an underpowered gun, and poor sights, to engage one of the most dangerous beasts in the world. (Ha hah ha...I shudder to think of it.)

Gerard was despised by the Arabs because he was a Christian and a foreigner. Still, as a representative of Christianity and France, he chose to go face to face with lions that were in the habit of killing the cattle and sometimes, local Muslim people. The Arabs never dared to hunt the lion directly. They might build an armored box to hide in and shoot from, or build a trap, but they would not hunt eye to eye like Gerard. His courage silenced the bigotry of his Arab benefactors.

The book reflects on wars and politics of long ago. It has cultural facts that are fascinating, too. I am pleasently surprised about how much I am enjoying the read.