James Cooper Rous

On the Lydenburg road in the early seventies the lion was occasionally to be met, Rous, the first Editor and proprietor of the "Volkstem", when riding from Pilgrims Rest to Pretoria, had a curious experience. In the words of his son Cole Rous- ..,"He off*saddled in some old cattle kraals which may still be seen near Kruger's post; they were overgrown with Tambookie grass. He chose this spot to shelter from the high wind blowing at the time. He had not been resting long when he heard something mgving, and, getting up to investigate, he found that the kraal was a lion's den and two small cubs were rolling about, awaiting the return of their mother. My father did not await this event as he was unarmed. (The rifles of those days took some carrying, and the horse was already heavily loaded,.) He thought, however, he might as well take one of the cubs along to Lydenburg, He clambered on the horse with the little animal and started off. After he had been travelling for some distance, he looked back and found that the lioness was following him. He pushed on but eventually found the mother lion uncomfortably near. And so, at one of the many water copses, he dropped the cub in the road when the lioness was only fifty yards behind him and dashed through the water. The lioness came up to the cub, fondled it for a little while, then took it up in her mouth and returned back along the road".

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