The Sun.
London, England, 1856-04-28 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The Lion-Bunter of South Africa. By Roualeyan
Gordon Cumming:. John Murray, Albemarle-
street.

It is seldom that we look on any cheap edition
which comes before us with ungracious feelings ' •
but we are obliged to confess, after having glanced
at Mr. Cumming's book, reduced in form and
price from the two original volumes—we are obliged
to confess, we repeat, that this glance at the con-
tents has so operated on our common-place nerves
that we cannot give it a welcome as a valuable
auxiliary to the useful and pleasing legion of cheap
works now presented to the public. Yet we are
not fastidious in our hunting tastes. We have not
shrunk from flinging a harpoon in the Northern
waters, nor from cracking a rifle in the Indian
jungle. Sport is a noble and inspiring excitement
for men, provided the sport be indulged is for the
occasional love of that excitement, or for the neces-
sary commercial supplies of civilisation; but when it
is evident that a savage love of blood, and ferocious
monomania for killing, rather than any real view
to temperate change of pursuit, or profitable
traffic, impel a human being to wage wanton
and systematic slaughter against the brute crea-
tion, the question may occur whether the ma-
jestic quadrupeds—preying and slaying from hun-
ger and instinct only—are not allied to almost as
elevated a race as the self-elected butcher of them.
M. Cutuming must, indeed, be a wonderful
hero, if all related in his adventures be true. Our
latent hope is that the mighty modern Nimrod
has put a fabulous account' upon the booksellers' ,
counters to test how much the appetite of novelty-
devourers will swallow of monstrous invention and
unwholesome imaginative stimulant. We trust
that he has only wished to resuscitate the curdling
horror experienced in our Story Book days—turn-
ing himself into the merciless " Btuebeard"—.mak-
iug Southern Africa his "Secret Chamber," and tak-
ing lions, tigers, leopards, rhinoceroses, antelopes,
giraffes, wolves, hyenas, ostriches, and endless
others of the God-created things for his wives.
The Fatimas of curiosity will find the key to the
terrific scene in Mr. Cumming's work, and whether
they drop it, as the lady of old did, or not, we
think they will find it unpleasantly marked with
sanguinary stains. We fear we may touch the
weakness of some of our tender-hearted readers ;
but in support of the opinion we have advanced,
we give a moderate specimen of the author's de-
scriptive power, and his decided manner of secur-
ing his game :

" I soon found fresh spoor, and after holding on for
several miles came, just as the sue was going down, upon
the fresh lairs of fear hippopotami. They had been lying
asleep on the margin of the river, and hearing M 3 cantle
crackling through the reeds, plunged into the deep water.
lat once saw that they were newly started, for the froth
and bubbles were still on the spot where they had dashed
in ; and next moment I heard them blowing a little way
down the river. I then headed them, but with consider-
able difficulty, owing to the cover and the reeds, and at
length came down right above where they were standing.
It was a broad part of the stream, with a sandy bottom,
and the water came half-way up their sides; there were
three cows and an old bull, and, though alarmed, they did
not appear aware of the extent of the impending danger.
" I took the sea-cow next me, and with my first ball
gave her a mortal wound, knocking loose the great plate
on the top of her skull, when she commenced plunging
round and round, and then occasionally remained still,
sitting for a few minutes on the same spot. Oa hearing
the report of my rifle two of the others took up stream,
and the fourth dashed down the liver, trotting along at a
smart pace, like oxen, as long as the water, was shallow. I
was now in a state of very great anxiety about my wounded
sea-cow, for I feared that she wound get into deep water,
and be lost like the two last. To settle the matter, there •
fore, I fired a second shot from the bank, which, entering
the roof of hsr skull, passed out through her eye; after
which she kept constantly splashing round and round in a
circle in the middle of the river. I had great fears of the
crocodiles, and did not know whether the sea-cow might
not attack me ; my anxiety to secure her, however, over-
came all hesitation, so, divesting, myself of my leathers,
and armed with a sharp knife, I dashed into the water,
which at first took me up to my arm-pits, but the middle
gas shallower.

"As I approached Behemoth I halted for a moment,
ready to dive under the water if she attacked rue; but
though her eye looked very wicked, she was stunned, and
did not know what she was doing ; so, running in upon
her, and seizing her short tail, I attempted to incline her
course to land. It was extraordinary what enormous
strength she still had in the water ; I could not guide her
in the slightest degree, and she continued to splash, plunge,
and blow, and make her circular course, carrying me along
with her, as if I was a fly on her tail. Finding this gave
me but a poor hold, I took out my knife, and, as the only
means of securing her, cut two deep parallel incisions
through the skin on her stern, and lifting this skin from
the flesh, so that I could get in my two hands, I made use
of it as a handle; and after some desperate hard work,
sometimes pushing and sometimes pulling, the sea-cow
continuing her circular course all the time, and I holding
on like grim Death, eventually sv.cceeded in bringing this
gigantic and most powerful animal to the bank. My Bush•
man now brought me a stout buffalo-rheirn from my
horse's neck, which I passed through the opening in the
thick skin, and moored Behemoth to a tree ; I then sent
a ball through the centre of her head, and she was num-
b:x.3d with the dead."

i\lr. Cumming's delight at his murdering the
harmless and beautiful giraffes is something quite
refreshing. Our readers may like to know how he
managed one of them :

" The ground was firm and favourable for riding, at
every stride I gained upon the giraffes, and after a short
burst at a swingeing gallop was in the middle of them, and
turned the finest co .v out of the herd ; finding herself
driven from her courades and hotly pursued, sho increased
her pace, and cantered along with tremendous strides,
clearing an amazing extent of ground at every bound,
while ber neck and breast, coming in contact with the dead
old branches of the trees, were continually strewing them
in my path. In a few minutes I was riding withn five
yards of her stern, and, firing at the gallop, sant a bullet
into her back ; increasing nay pies, I uext rode alongside,
and, placing the muzzle of my rifle within a few feet of
her, fired my second shot behind the shoulder—the bell,
however, scorned to have little effect. I then placed my-
self directly in front, when she came to a walk, and dis-
rnounting,, I hastily loaded both b Lrrels, putting in a
doable charge of powder; but before I was ready she was
off at a canter. In a short time I brought her to a stand
at fifteen yards in the dry bed of a watercourse, and fired,
aiming where I thought the heart lay, upon which she again
started ; having reloaded, I followed, and had very nearly
lost her, for sho turned abruptly to the left, and was far
out of sight among the trees. Once more I brought her to
a stand, and dismounting, gazed in wonder at her extreme
beauty, while her soft dark eye, with its silky fringe,
looked down imploringly at me : I really felt a pang of
sorrow in this moment of triumph for the blood I was
shedding ; but the sporting feeling prevailed, and pointing
my rifle towards the skies, I sant a lsullet through her
neck. Oa receiving it, she reared high on her hind legs
and fell backwards with a heavy crash, making the earth
shake around her—a thick stream of dark blood spouted
far from the wound, her colossal limbs quivered for a mo-
ment, and she expired."

We will not dwell longer on the particular
doings of one capable of " bagging" his elephant
bulls, " knocking over" his lions," and " biinging
down" his rhinoceroses as schoolboys gather cob.
nuts—by hundreds. We must mention, however,
that Mr. Cumming had a huge horse, called " The
Immense Brute," which surely claims some hon-
ourable introduction to the admirinrr world. May
we suggest to the mighty Lion 'Hunter, who
now presides over a London Exhibition, telling all
ho has done and seen, that it would be doing a
consistent thing if he had the cognomen of the
dumb slave legibly printed aid placed as a badge
on the breast of the master.

The Lion-Killer. By Jules G6rard. Lambert
and Co., New Oxford-street.
Here we have another " lion" volume, by a
Frenchman, fit to take its place by the side of
any "extraordinary " and " wonderful" bock of
adventures—whether that book be "Jack the
Giant-Killer" or " Gulliver's Travels." There is
an amount of episodial matter in Mons. Gerard's
relations which rather ameliorates the savage de-
tails of rifle and bullet performance, and causes us
to look upon the production as asort of African
" Nights Entertainments." Fables and tales of
pleasant character aro introduced, having purpose
and point about them. In fact, we consider M.
Gerard's work as a regular romance. Ho makes
most of his victim-lions breakfast on lovely women,
dine on honest men, " thaw up" whole herds
of horses, oxen, mules, and sheep, and commit the
extreme of desolating mischief, before they are
" rolled over" by his " well-placed" bullet. We
meet with pet lion-cubs carried home iu his
pocket, anecdotes of marauding robbers who are
taught to behave themselves properly, delicate
young brides within a foot of a lion's fangs, and all
kinds of astonishing and startling incidents. We
are not constitutionally given to this class of read-
I ins rep WQ conaollo4 tQ cliocw f? Mg 01711

special perusal between :'t Tr. Cumming's book n
Mons. Gerard s, we should certainly pref©r that o
the latter gentleman.

THE MILITARY BOARD OF INQUIRY.
(This Day.)

The Board resumed its sittings to-day at 11 o'clock.
There was a much larger attendance of ladies this
morning than on any previous occasion, That portion
of the Hall devoted to the public was much crowded,
probably from a desire to see Lord Cardigan (whose case'
was announced to be taken to-day), whose name has be-
come notorious in connection with the celebrated but
unfertunate Balaklava charge.
The business of the Court commenced with Lord
Lucan reading his
.defence to the Board. He said that,
after having attentively read Col. Tulloch's report, he
had come to the conclusion that it had but two objects
in view : viz , first, not to uphold his report, but to ex-
cuse the Commissioners for having made it ; and,
secondly, to exonerate him (Lord Lucan) and the
cavalry, from blame. He hal little to complain of the tone,
manner, or spirit in reference to his conduct in this in-
quiry, but he was compelled to express his opinion that
he had collected the evidence which told against him,
while that which was in his own favour was carefully
paraded before the public. He bad, moreover, the popu-
lar prejudice in his favour, and the press loud and clause-
rous on his side, while witnesses called by him (Lord
Lucan) were run down and undervalued, and those of
Col. Tulloch applauded and their motives upheld. If
the manly and straightforward evidence of Sir Edmund
Lyons had been treated in that way who could expect
to escape? It was not for Col. Tulloch to appeal for
sympathy to the Court, and he (Lord Lucan) should
not ask for it, for whatever might be the result of this
extraordinary and humiliating inquiry—the first of the
kind that had ever been held on a general officer—he
should never fear being hereafter taunted with the re-
proach that he had ever neglected the comfort of that
brave and gallant army committed to his charge
in the Crimea. His lordship then adverted to the
evidence of Colonel Griffiths relative to- the alleged
differences between them. Colonel Griffiths did not
remember much of what occurred at the time he alluded
to, and that not very correctly. He had stated that his
regiment was moved ten times, whereas Major Connolly
had stated it was not moved more than seven times. He
night perhaps excuse Col. Griffiths for this mistake, for
he could easily understand how much more serious it
was for Col. Griffiths to move than for any other officer,
in consequence of the difficulty of carrying about with
him his own well-regulated domestic and culinary esta-
blishment. (Laughter.) He denied that he had ever
been guilty of rudeness to Col. Griffiths in the interview
alluded to, or that he had done anything to discourage
or deter him ; but that, on the contrary, he did every-
thing in his power to urge him and other officers to pro-
vide every possible shelter for the cavalry, and that
consequently the inference was unfairly drawn by the
Commissioners with reference to the altercations be-
tween him and Col. Griffiths, and was both uncourteous
and groundless. He (Lord Lucan) did not recollect
positively what did occur between them, but he recol-
lected Col. Griffiths visiting him one morning, as was
usual with the officer of the day, to receive his orders
relative to the pickets, when he (Lord Lucan) jocosely
remarked on the "greyish white greatcoat " Colonel
Griffiths had on, which he had received from Constanti•
nople. Colonel Griffiths then made some remarks about
the permanent position of the camp, and no doubt he
(Lord Lucan) replied, " How can I tell you what we are
about to do." Col. Griffiths continued in a tone of re.
preach. He (Lord Lucan) replied, and he believed Col.
Griffiths received it with a sneer, and made some extrava-
gant suggestion on what was then uppermost in his mind,
and which he was discussing with the Coininander-in•
Chief and the Quartermaster-General of the Army. Col.
Griffiths then in an extraordinary manner threw himself
back on his horse and said, "You are not speaking to
me like a gentleman, nor treating me as one gentleman
ought to treat another." He then told him to be
quiet, or he would place him under arrest. Colonel
Griffiths continued repeating that he was only talking
to him (Lord Lucan) as one gentleman bad a right to
talk to another, on which he (Lord Lucan) told him to
hold his tongue and join his picket. (Laughter.) His
lordship, after some other remarks, said he would wil-
lingly leave his case in the hands of the Board ; but
there were some remarkable points in the evidence that
had been submitted, both to the Commissioners and the
Board, to which he found himself bound to advert--
and first with reference to the percentage of deaths of
the horses. He maintained that his statements on a
former occasion in connection with the deaths were cor-
rect, and that every figure in the Commissioners' report
was incorrect. He had shown that the heavy cavalry
had not 1,055 horses on the Ist October, as had been
stated, because at that time there was not a single man
of heavy brigade in the Crimea, and it was only after
the arrival of the Enniskillen and the Royal Dragoons
on the sth or 6th of the month that the heavy cavalry
became complete. His lordship then proceeded to ana-
lyse the figures in the Commissioners reports, relative to
the returns of the horses and deaths, which he charac-
teriSed as "stuff," "rubbish," and "unintelligible,"
and in proof of it asserted that the number of horses
landed in Bulgaria was 2,450, out of which 422 died
there, and 275 on the passage to the Crimea, making
a total loss, up to that time, of 693, leaving 1,752 horses
alive. Out of this number 817 horses died in the Crimea
up to the 16th of January, or 48 per cent. His lordship
next referred to a paragraph in the report relative to the
hutting, which accused him of disingeniousness and com-
plained that a great deal of obloquy had been cast upon
him in consequence of the displacement of a marginal
note, ae alleged by the printer, which the Commissioners
might at any time have put right, but they had declined
doing so until two or three days after the commence•
ment of this inquiry. In this as in every other
part of the report the Commissioners state-
ments were inconsistent and at variance with the
facts. lie then again came to the question of censure,
and here he contended that if there was one part more
than another that contained animadversion on his con-
duct it was in the Commissioners' remarks in connection
with the hutting, and notwithstanding what Col. Tulloch
had said to the contrary, it was evident that the Com-
missioners had animadverted on him without mentioning
his name, hoping thereby to evade the responsibility
they would otherwise have incurred by stating his name,
important
part passing to what he considered the most
part of the report, charging him with want of prompti-
tude and ingenuity in devising shelter for the cavalry, he
remarked, in rather strong terms—amounting almost to
animadversion—on Col. Griffiths' sheltering, which he
said comprised only a six inch drain, quite inadequate
for what it was intended, and which that officer
was unable to make without relying on assistance
from others. The charge of want of promptitude
and ingenuity resolved itself into two questions, a can-
vas question, and a drainage canvas. With regard to
the former, he called the attention of Sir R. Aire), to the
use of canvas for shelter as early as October. There
was no want of promptitude or ingenuity here, but did
Col. Tulloch show sufficient sagacity when he was di-
" rested by the Minister of War to make the necessary
arrangements for hutting the men.
Col. Tailoch said he was not invested with that re-
sponsibility by the Minister for "War, and begged the
protection of the Court.
The Judge-A.dvocate-General said there ! was no evi-
denca of that kind before the Court, arid Lord Lucan
bad better confine his remarks to what had been stated
in evidence.

Lord Lucan continued--He said that whatever might
have been stated about the use of canvas, no person of
experience, and especially those who had been in the
Crimea, would say that it cauld have been used with
safety to the hones on the plateau in the month of
November. He agreed that if nothing else could have
been obtained canvas t o a certain extent might
have been of advantage especially in roofing, but there
never was a sufficient quantity of scantling with which
to form frame work for canvas roofing, and if Mr,
Rawlinson had stated that it would have been safe to
have used the same scantling for canvas as for timber.
The deficiency of scantling was a difficulty which any
amount of canvas could not have remedied, but admit-
ting canvas would have been useful was it to be got.
Admiral Sir E. Lyons had stated that canvas could not
have been had from the fleet, and every word that bad
fallen from the gallant admiral would have been con-
firmed by Admiral Dundas if he had been allowed to use
his written replies to the queries he (Lord Lucan) had
forwarded to him so that they had evidence of the two
admirals of the station on that point.
The Judge-Advocate-General— I think not Lord Lucan.
The replies of Sir D. Dundas had not been received is
evidence.
Lord Lucan said be would fall back on the evidence
of Sir E. Lyons,
which was quite sufficient for his pur-
pose. It had been proved that if there had been a suffi-
cient supply of canvas that there was a deficiency of car-
penters. The authorities at home were not well ac-
quainted with the supply of carpenters at Constantinople,
and, as an instance, he had only to refer to what occur-
red at Scutari. Some works requiring construction:
there the War-office sent out a clerk of the works at
SOO/. per annum to look after it, and the Ordnance, not
knowing what the War-office bad done, sent out ano-
ther clerk of the works at 500/. per annum—(laughter)
—and the conseuence was that there were two clerks
of works, at 1,0001. a year salary. When they got to
Scutari they founi they had only 16 men to look after—
(laughter)—that being all the men they could get.
He would next refer to the trenching, &c., for shel-
ter, and that brought him to the evidence of Mr. Raw-
linson, who, in addition to his being a civil en.
gineer was also an eminent genealogist—(laughter)—he
meant geologist, had stated that pits could have been
constructed in certain places, but that was impossible,
because the cavalry bad orders to keep in a certain place,
and he had further given a statement of how much
ground a soldier could excavate, based on what a navvy
was capable of doing, an assumption which every one
who knew the habits, &e. of the two classes of men
knew to be absurd.
We shall give the cpaslusion in our last edition.

PARMA, April 23.—The state of affairs continues tin.
changed. Count Crenneville has received orders from
Vienna not to remove the troops under his command
without having previously applied for instructions to the
Imperial Government.
TICS AMERICAN MAIM—LIVERPOOL, Saturday.--The
British and Noah American Royal Mail steam-ship
America, Captain W. J. C. Lang, sailed from the Mersey
this afternoon for Boston and Halifax, with the usual
mails for the United States and Canada, 131 passengers,
and a full cargo of valuable merchandise on freight.
The petition to Parliament against the abolition of
the law which requires all contracts of 10/. and upwards
to be in -writing is stated to have been signed by 300 of
the principal firms in London,
The Queen has appointed Mr. James Clerk Maxwell;
of y
Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, to be Professor.
1,4,411-41 Philosoph
at-tk, Uniyereity of -Mariscbal
College, Aberdeen, _ _