it was here, however, that one of the most thrilling episodes of the road was enacted in the old days. the mail from exeter to london had left salisbury on the night of 20th october 1816, and proceeded in the usual way for several miles, when what was thought to be a large calf was seen trotting beside the horses in the darkness. the team soon became extremely nervous and fidgety, and as the inn was approached they could scarcely be kept under control.{163}
an escaped lioness
at the moment when the coachman pulled up to deliver his bags, one of the leading horses was suddenly seized by the supposed calf. the horses kicked and plunged violently, and it was with difficulty the driver could prevent the coach from being overturned. the guard drew his blunderbuss and was about to shoot the mysterious assailant when several men, accompanied by a large mastiff, appeared in sight. the foremost, seeing that the guard was about to fire, pointed a pistol at his head, swearing that he would be shot if the beast was killed.
every one then perceived that this ferocious ‘calf’ was nothing less than a lioness. the dog was set on to attack her, and she thereupon left the horse and turned on him. he turned and ran, but the lioness caught him and tore him to pieces, carrying the remains in her mouth under a granary. the spot was then barricaded to prevent her escape, and a noose being thrown over her neck, she was secured and marched off to captivity again.
it is said that the horse when attacked fought with great spirit, and would probably have beaten off his assailant with his fore-feet had he been at liberty; but in his frantic plunges he became entangled in the harness. the lioness, it seems, attacked him in front, springing at his throat and fastening the claws of her fore-feet on either side of the neck, while her hind-feet tore at his chest. the horse, although fearfully mangled, survived. the showmen of the time were evidently quite as enterprising as those of these latter days, for the menagerie proprietor purchased the horse and{164} exhibited him the next day at salisbury fair, with excellent results in the shape of increased gate-money.
the passengers on this extraordinary occasion were absolutely terror-stricken. bounding off the coach, they made a wild rush for the inn, and, reaching the door, slammed it to and bolted it, to the exclusion of one poor fellow who, not active enough, found himself shut out in the road. the lioness, pursuing the dog, actually brushed against him. when she was secured, the poltroons inside the house opened the door and let the half-fainting traveller in. they gave him refreshments, and he recovered sufficiently to be able to write an account of the event for the local papers; but in a few days he became a raving maniac, and was sent to an asylum at laverstock. for over twenty-seven years he lived there, incurable, and died in 1843.
the leader attacked by the lioness was a famous horse, even before that affair. there were many such in the coaching age. animals unmanageable on the racecourse were frequently sold to coach-proprietors, and soon learnt discipline on the roads. ‘pomegranate’ was his name. a ‘thief’ on the course, and a bad-tempered brute in the stable, he had worked on the exeter mail for some time before this dramatic episode in his career found him, for a time, a home in a menagerie.
salisbury
the fame of the affair was great and lasting. that coaching specialist, james pollard, drew, and r. havell engraved, a plate showing the dramatic scene, which was dedicated to thomas hasker,{165} superintendent of his majesty’s mails. in it you see joseph pike, the guard, rising to shoot the very heraldic-looking lioness, and the passengers encouraging him in the background, from the safe retreat of the first-floor windows. it will be observed that this is apparently the lioness’s first spring, and yet those passengers are already upstairs: at once a striking testimony to their agility and a warranty of the exquisite truth of the saying that fear lends wings to the feet.
