The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-04 00:00:00

SHOOTIWG A LION.

" I dismounted at about 60 or 70 yards and shot him ;
I could only see his outline, and that very indistinctly,
and he drept so instantaneously, that I Thought I had shot
him dead. I stood up in my stirrups to catch a sight of
him. His eyes glared so savagely, and he lay crouched in
so natural a position, that I saw in a moment I had missed
him ; I was then about 80 yards from him, and was weigh-
ing the chances of getting a shot at him from behind an
immense ant-heap about 15 yards nearer. I had just put
my horse in motion with that intention when he came on
with a tremendous roar. Illy horse is a fast one, and has
run down the gemsbok, one of the fleetest ante-
lopes, but the way the lion ran him in was terrific.
In an instant I was at my best pace, leaning forward, look-
ing back over my left shoulder, over a hard flat ground. On
came the lion, two strides to my one. I never saw any-
thing like it, and never want to do so again; to turn in the
saddle, and shoot, darted across my mind, when he was
within three strides of me, but, on second thoughts, I
gave a violent jerk on the near rein, and a savage dig at
the same time with the off heel, just in the nick of time, as
the old mannikin bounded by me, grazing my right shoul-
der with his, and all but unhorsing me, but I managed to
right myself by clinging to the near stirrup leather. He
immediately slackened his speed ; as soon as I could pull
up, which was not all at once, as Ferns had his mettle up,
I jumped off, and made a very pretty and praiseworthy
shot, considering the fierce ordeal I had just passed, though
I say it who ought not.

Of the Kaffirs, on the whole, Mr. Bald•
win speaks in favourable terms. They are
excellent servants for the time being, though

.heir attachment can never be

reckoned

on. On one occasion, when disabled by
fever and left behind by his party, he was most
carefully nursed by his Kaffir attendant, but near
the termination of his wanderings he was much
pained by the sudden desertion of two tried ser-
vants who had been with him for several years, and
in whom he placed great trust. The life led by the
wandering tribes is most wretched ; hundreds often
perish of starvation in bad seasons. The author once
encountered an old Kaffir woman leading two little
boys of four or five. They were living on roots,
berries, land tortoises, or anything they could find,
without clothing or dwelling of any sort. They
refused to come to the wagon, though starvation
was their almost inevitable fate. During one period
of scarcity one of the missionaries used to give each
of the baptised Kaffirs a small loaf every Monday ;
with this they contrived to keep alive with the aid
of roots, berries, &c., till the following week. The
Zulu nation seem to be peculiarly savage. At 3ne
time, when Mr. Baldwin passed through their
country it was nearly depopulated by an interne-
cine war, Panda, the chief, having himself killed
seven of his brothers. The Kaffir church, conducted
by a Norwegian missionary, was a curious spectacle.
Near the close of his travels Mr. Baldwin reached
Zambesi Falls, of which he gives a very interest-
ing description. He was fortunate enough to meet
Dr. Livingstone, and had the honour, he tells us, of
cutting his initials on a tree in the island above she
Falls, just below Dr. Livingstone's, as being the
second European who had reached the Falls, and
the first from the east coast. Dr. Livingstone told
him that it was the only place from the west coast
to the east where he had had the vanity to cut his
initials. The discovery of the Falls was made in
1855, and from that time to the present no Euro-
peans but Dr. Livingstone's party and Mr. Bald-
win have penetrated so far. The river he describes

as a mile wide, and the roar of the Falls is heard at
ten miles' distance. The writer counted sixteen

before a stone of 201bs. weight reached the surface of
the water. One of Dr. Livingstone's party asserted
that these FdllS exceeded Niagara in sublimity. Mr.

Baldwin thinks Dr. Livingstone underrated their
magnitude, as he himself saw them every day for
a week, from every accessible point, and thinks
himself well qualified to compute the distances
from his long practice in doing so. It will be seen
that the work possesses all the fascination belong-
ing to a narrative of exploration and adventure ;
and its attractions are considerably enhanced by
the very numerous and effective illustrations. The
" gentlemen of England who live at home at ease,"
will probably prefer hunting lions and elephants
in Mr. Baldwin's company through the medium of
his animated pages, to sharing in the perils and
pleasures of a similar dangerous and daring ex-
pedition.