| Show LION llon HUNTING eaker baker in his nile tributaries Tributa aries ries gives good gon descriptions of hunting in africa of f which the following 0 isa is a fair specimen every day from sunrise to sunse sunset t I 1 was either elther on foot or in th the e sad saddie saddle d le without rest except on sun gun sundays d a s which ch I 1 generally passed at ho home in e with t h t the he relaxation of fishing in t the h e beautiful river Set tite there was an immense hant quantity mant ity of large game and I 1 had made a mixed ba bag of elephants hippopotami beno feno aloes rhinoceros giraffes and great numbers of the large antelopes lions although nume numerous lous Tons were exceedingly difficult to bag there was no chance bab bat in the extreme risk of creeping through h the thickest jungle j upon two or three thike occasions I 1 had shot them b by y brawling trawling ling into their dens where they had imm dra dragged ed their prey and I 1 must acknowledge that they were much more fri frightened at me than I 1 was at them I 1 had generally obtained a most difficult and unsatisfactory shot at close quarters lu ju arters arterb sometimes I 1 rolled them over with a mortal wound and they disappeared to die in impenetrable jungle out aut at all times fortune was on my side cn moonlight nights I 1 generally lay in wait for these animals with great pa mence menee sometimes ashot a hippopotamus and ind used a hindquarter hind quarter as a bait balt for fon ons while I 1 watched in ambush at about twenty yards distant but the generally appeared like evil spirits and dragged away the bait be ore ore the lion had a chance I 1 never dred at these scavengers as they are most useful animals and are contemptible as game my arabs had made their fortune as I 1 had given them all the she meat of the various animals which ibey ubey dried and transported to geera beera together oether g with fat hides ac it would woula re wearying to enumerate the happy danting days passed throughout hout this country we were never ill irl for a mo aaeng ent although the thermometer was seldom below 68 88 degrees during the day the country was healthy as it was intensely dry and therefore free from malaria at night the thermometer avera averaged geh 70 degrees which was a de J Z hatful temperature for those who aist in the open air As our camp was full of meat either dried or in the the process of drying in pes les es upon the trees we had been a great attraction to the beasts of prey hat constantly prowled around our thorn fence during the night one night in particular a lion llon attempted to enter inter but had been repulsed by the who pelted belted him with fire rands my people woke me up and egged me to shoot him but as it was I 1 perfectly impossible to fire corrects correctly 1 frough the hed hedge hede e of thorns I 1 refuse refused 0 3 be disturbed yet et I 1 promised to hunt or him on the following da day Y through ut the entire night the ifon lion continued 0 o prowl around the camp growling and uttering his peculiar guttural sigh rot not fot one of my people slept siept tand and they declared lec lared he would bound into the camp and take somebody unless they kept p the watch fires and drove him away with ith brands the next day besore sunrise I 1 called hassan and hadji ali all choin I 1 lectured severely upon their cowardice aw ardice ardiee on a former occasion and received their promise to follow me to death I 1 in trusted them with my two lillys no 10 and with my little fletcher fietcher Flet fiet cherin in hand I 1 determined to spend he whole day in searching every thicket of the forest for lions as I 1 felt convinced that the animal that had lis Us us during the night was con healed somewhere within the neighbor beig abor ag ig jungle the whole day passed fruitlessly I 1 ad crept through the thickest adorns in vain having an abunda abundance nce nee meat I 1 had refused the most tempt ashot ag shots at bum buT buffaloes aloes and large learge ante as I 1 had devoted myself exclusively tely vely to lions I 1 was much disappointed as the evening had arrived without a not having been fired and as the sun kad aad nearly set I 1 wandered slowly towards home passing through alternate pen glades a few yards in width hem zed aed ned in on all sides by v thick jungle I 1 was carelessly car carrying crying i my r ifie rifle upon lay cay shoulder as I 1 pushed my w way ay through hr ough the opposing thorns when a sudden sadden ro roar arjust just before me at once drought wrought the rifle upon full fall cock cochand coe coc kand and t t saw a magnificent lion standing in he middle of the glade about ten yards rom me he had been lying on the ground and had started to his feet upa r hearing me approach through the angie angle for an instant he stood in an attitude of attention as we were hardly visible but at the same moment I 1 took a quick buic but sure shot with the little gl fletcher pletcher he gave a convulsive bound at ut rolled over backwards before benore he could recover himself 1 I fired the lefthand barrel it was a glorious sight eight I 1 had advanced a few steps into the glade giad e and hasaan hassan had quickly handed mea me a spare rifle while taher noor stood by me sword in hand band the lion in the tue greatest fury with his shaggy shaggy mane irist grist bristling bristling ling in the air roared w with th deathlike growls as openmouthed open mouthed he endeavored deavo red to charge upon us but he dragged his hindquarters hind quarters upon the ground and I 1 saw immediately that the littie little letcher fletcher JF had broken h his is spine in his tremendous exertions to attack us he rolled over and over gnashing hla hia horrible jaws and tearing holes in the sandy ground at each blow of his tremendous paws aws that would have crushed a mans rians skull 11 like an eggshell egg shell sheil seeing that he was horger hors norg de combat I 1 took it coolly as it was already dusk and the lion having rolled into a dark and thick bush I 1 though it would atwould be advisable to defer the final attack as he would be dead before morning we were not ten minutes walk from the camp at which we quickly arrived my bry men were greatly rejoiced at the discomfiture of their enemy as they were convinced that he was the same lion that had attempted to enter the za reeba on the tho following morning before sunrise I 1 started with nearly all my people and a powerful camel with the intention of bringing the lion home entire I 1 rode my horse tetel as he had frequently shown great courage and I 1 wished to prove whether he would would advance to the body of the hon lion upon arrival near the spot which we supposed to have been the scene of the encounter we were rather puzzled as there was nothing to distinguish the locality one place exactly resembled als alo an other as the country was flat and sandy interspersed with thick jungle of green we accordingly spread out to beat for the lion presently hadji ali AH cried out there he lies dead and I 1 immediately rode to the spot together with the people A tremendous roar greeted us as the lion started to his forefeet fore feet and with his beautiful mane erect and his great hazel eyes flashing fire be he gave a succession of deep short roars and challenged us to fight this was a grand rand picture he looked like a true lord loid of the forest but I 1 pitied the poor brute as he was helpless and although the spirit was game to the last his strength caspara was wa spara para lyzen by a broken back it was a glorious opportunity for the horse at the first unexpected roar this th e camel had bolted with its rider nider the horse had for a moment started on one side and the men had scattered bl but ut in an instant I 1 had reined tetel up and I 1 now rode straight towards the lion as he courted the encounter about twenty paces distant I 1 halted immediately 0 opposite the noble looking beast which seeing me in in advance odthe of the party increased his rage and growled deeply fixing his glance upon the horse I 1 now patted tetel on the neck and spoke to him coaxingly he gazed intently at the lion erected erected his mane and snorted but showed no signs of retreat bravo old boy I 1 said and encouraging him by caressing his neck with my hand I 1 touched his flank gently with my heel I 1 let him just feel my hand upon the rein and with a come along old lad tetel slowly but resolutely advanced step by step towards the infuriated lion that greeted him with continued growls the horse several times snorted loudly and stared fixedly at the terrible face before him but as I 1 constantly patted and coaxed him he did not refuse to advance I 1 checked him when within about six yards from the lion this would have made a magnificent picture as the horse with astounding courage faced the lion at bay both animals kept their eyes fixed upon each other the one beaming with rage the other with cool determination this was enough I 1 dropped the reins upon his neck it was a signal gnal si that tetel perfectly understood and he stood firm as a rock for he knew that I 1 was about to fire I 1 took aim at the head of the glorious but distressed lion and a bullet from the little fletcher dropped him dead tetel never flinched at a shot I 1 now dismounted and havin having patted and coaxed the horse I 1 led hi him up to the body of the lion which 1 I also aiso izo batted patted and then gave my hand to the horse orse onse to smell he snorted once or twice and as I 1 released my hold of the reins and left him entirely free he slowly lowered his head and sniffed the mane mafle of the dead lion he then turned a few paces upon one side and commenced eating the withered grass beneath the bushes 0 A wild hog the size of a cow that gnaws down trees and roots up fences is creating a disturbance in mississippi |
