The Nevada Democrat., 1856-09-10
A Fascinating Fellow.

About thirty wears ago, says Julius Gerard,
the great lion hunter, young man named De
ghir, belonging to the tribe of Anamera, estab-
lished in the Aures mountains, fell in love with
a Young girl, who had been refused to him by
her father on account of his poverty. The
Young people however, were much attached to
each other, and one evening the girl ran away
with her lover. The distance being considera-
BILE between the two douars, and the road eX-
tremely perilous, Seghir had armed himself from
head to foot.
Already the most dangerous part of the road
had been cleared and they were beginning to
hear the dogs of the douar towards which they
were rapidly advancing, when all at once lion
who til Ghat moment had lain concealed behind
the bushes, rose and walked straight towards
them. The yonng girl shrieked SO fearfully
that her cries were heard by the people in the
tents and several of them Immediately rushed
out to the rescue When they came to the spot to
which they were directed by the loud screams
of the young maiden, they saw the lion walking
slowly few PAGES in front of Seghir, with his
eyes steadfastly fixed upon him and leading him
thus towards the forest. The young girl did
all she could to prevent her lover from follow
ing the lion, or induce him to let 60 his hold
of herself, but it was in vain; he kept dragging
her on, in spite of all her efforts saying-"come
my dear, come, our master will have it so, we
must gol' But your weapons, she cried; what
are they good for, if not to save me Z" 'Weap-
ons | | have none,' answered the fascinated
wretch "Great lord, believe her not, she lies;
l am perfectly unarmed, and will follow you
wherever you will ~
At this moment the Arabs, eight or ten in
number who had come to the rescue of the un-
fortunate couple, perceiving that the lion would
very soon have them in the forest, fired every
one of them upon him; but finding that he did
not fall, they took to their heels. The lion
sprang upon Seghir, and with one bound crush =
ed him to the earth, devouring his head at a
bite after which he laid down by the side of the
young girl, placing his huge paws upon her
knees. The Arabs now finding that the lion did
not condescend to pursue them, they took cour-
age and returned, and having reloaded their
guns, prepared again to fire; but being afraid
of killing the girl, they told her to try and get
away from the lion, which he allowed her to do
without ever losing sight of her.
The moment the guns of the Arabs were lev
eled at him, the lion sprang into the midst of
them and seized one of them with his teeth, and
two others with his claws, dragging them thus
together so as to make as it were one bundle;
then placing under him that mass Of palpitating
flesh he instantly smashed the three heads as
he had done that of Seghr. Those who had es-
capped ran off to the douar, and related what
they had witnessed, but no one was bold
then took hold of the maiden and carried her
off into the forest.
The next day the Arabs came to carry away
the bodies of the four men. As to the young
girl, nothing was found but her hair, her feet
and her clothes All the rest were devoured.
Is it then really true that the lion has the
power of fascinating the weak organization of
certain men to the extent of forcing them to
follow him? All that can say is that every
Arab that have interrogated on this subject,
has answered me in the affirmative, and quoted
number of examples in support of his asser-
tion. AS for myself can only say that when
ever have had the honor to find myself in the
presence of this great monarch, never felt the
slightest inclination to follow his royal steps,
though can quite understand how his threat
.ening aspect, his kingly majesty, the piercing
fxedness of his fiery look, should paralyze the
heart and brain of him who meets him unex-
pectedly