The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1852-10-02
AN EXCITING ADVENTURE.

r''ularhs d, Your wisdom shall direct YOU vii!
II, least CRAFTY one OF the steady readers OF
Your valuable paper. The letter is dated
san FHANCI,Co, june IA. 1872
must visit the mines before leave. or
shall feel that have not seen all the Lions
ri California. BY the way, speaking of lions
! am fresh from personal encounter with
hon, IN which received wound in my RIGHT
shoulder making it painful for me to write
1t was not one Of your little cat-likc lions.
such a. YOU have seen from Africa, hut rcr-
ular built California lion, 10 feet long. ) To
- feet acro>, the breast, and wciuhnr 5000
pounds; a noble looking animal, with SMELL
rr> q inches long. Perhaps Won will begin
to think am telling Won a travellers story
hut it i: all sober truth. must Give YOU
some account Of the mortal contest, which
will pass for my greatest achievement and am
now content to lcrOmc an old man. if permit
ted to live and tell til" story to my children.
y vessel arrived here some DAYS since which
reported ha'in" effected landing on an u.I-
inhabited Island in the P..iii .. about nnct,
miles from the coast. Among other wonder
iuI ihin", which they tod Of the place. the,
aid there were 4 lions there Of immense,
sl<": that they h,d encountered them and
BAD no; trn able to Kill one of them. atho'
they had fired several balls into the head of
one. was seized with Il desire to see the
wonder, Of the place, e>rr iniiv the ions,an
Vt possible to secure one of them. ! soon
made up a party Of T. re,olutc men, charter
ed d ,e>se! and sailed Tor the Island. After
a fair passage, we reached the spot. and sur"
enough the half had not been told us We
found the Island to be about a mile in length.
OF irregular form, avcrag ing abont OF a mile
IN width. Tine would fail one to describe
it, numerous caves arches and natural briiu-
c> OF the latter counted six. some OF them
over deep ravincs, through which the ocean
waves run and break with great fury. Nor
can now stop to describe its Overlapping
cliffs, under which the waves of the broad
Pacific have dashed COR ayes in it., sporting
hours, and It's rocky stccples and towers,
pierced through and through, having die ap-
praranre Of windows. FROM one ol these
c.lli, have looked down upon more than
300 SEA lions. lione,scs and their Young ones
ha>king i'll the rays o. the sun on the rock,
below; the ocean spray breaking over them
every few minutes We also found acre, and
res Of ,ca birds. 50 nnncrous and dcnsclv
packed together, and 80 talnc that one could
not walk fast without trcading on them or
their eggs. We remained three d.,,s and
tire" nights, exploring the Place
The Island is almost barren rock much
broken, and has npon IT a large quantity o.!
Guano. We slept i'll cave, Robinson Cru>oc
Ike, md we're >rrcnalcd each night as we'll
ii. day, BY the ,la>hin4 nl the wave, ami iir
roarln. 81. The lions, the .'rranlin. Of the birds
sometimes one, sometimes the other prelond-
cr,tln" and at other times it would seem ,lf
ticut to tell whi,h had the mastery, Til.
hr,t day after tax n- general >ur>e, Of tn,
Island, watched the lions, studying their
habits and motions. also examined the skin
,i one tina, had been killed in combat, or had
died OF old age, and from it cndcavorcd to as
certain their most vulnerable points.
Ten ofonr PARTY were pursued by old lions
hut escaped l., climbing the rocks. which the
lions can do but >!owly Y. though III descending
thy move quite rapidly. The >e 'ond day,
SIX of Us prepared for battle and started
armed with one SINGLE and one double barrel
ed gun, two whalrrs' lanccS, and the rest with
clubs prepared for the purpose. was to do
the shooting, and then all were to advance
and finish up the work, if the shots should
make impression enough to make it safe to do
So took the single barrel piece, which was
charged with slug, and led the way As we
III sight, the ionc>sr> with their Young
ones plunged into the watcr, lca,in. the old
lions, SOME 10 or - of thcn along the shore.
, or 3 rod, apart, ali loom. at Us and roarn.
most hravcly. We soon discovered that be-
tween lis and the lions there was a deep "a
vine" empty but into which the breakers roll
'l at high tide. On exploring the ground
found the only way could approach the near
st lion unob>crved, was to 90 some distance
To the left, enter the ravnc, come back to til,
point nearest the lion, then ascend the oppo
ute bank. AS left the rest of the party t,
du thi>.tw of them offered to bet that woul,
ran ii the lion advanced towards me- wa
hv no means sure that this would not be tn,
and only answered that they would Sc,
/! did. | took the route Just named. ant
upon ascending the opposite side Of the IA
vine, found mysclftacc to face with the lion
about 80 feet distant. His eve caught me til,
moment my hat was above the banks. wher
with blast of his nostrils. shake and grow
lie began to advance. This was an excitin
moment. for to kill him must hit him with
in a pace not larger than the palm of NJ
hand, and that on the side of his head. and d
- right angle or the slug would glance. IIa,
III. much confidence that couId hit him 5
Is to sink him. or make him retreat or if NJ
could escape 10y climbing the rocks aft,
he should he within 10 feet of me. provide
that id not Sip, determined to stand IN
ground little longer; 80 with level gun
waited an instant for him to turn III, lIca