Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1857-01-31

| cinated by them is unable to cry for help OF
even to groan. From time 10 time the lion
passes his large rough tongue over the face
of his enemy, curls his lip. and shows all his
teeth. Meanwhile the relatives OF the un.
happy man appeal to the most courageous ol
the troop. and they advance guns cooked
towards the lion, who sees them coming, but
never moves. Fearing lest their balls should
miss the lion and hit the man, they are
forced to approach so close, that they can
place the musket in the ear of the lion. This
is q critical moMent If the lion has any
force left him, he kills the man lying beneath
him, and bounds on the one who has come to
the rescue and as he lies motionless on the
body Of his victim it is impossible to know
whether he will bound or not. In case his
strength is too much wasted, the lion crush
es the head Of the man beneath him the
moment he sees the musket approach his ear,
and then closing his eyes, awaits death.
Such is the lion Of Northern Africa, and
the terror he inspires in the brave Arabs who
know his power is ineligible. Before quit
ting our descriptive notices, we must call
upon Gerard ior an account of the lions roar,
as he first heard it while awaiting in hiding
place the approach of the king of beasts
After waiting for an hour, the first grnm.
biings reached his ear as if the lien were
talking to himself, and these grow louder aud
louder till the very roof of the hiding place
trembes at the sound The roarngs are not
very frequent sometimes quarter of an
hour or more capses between each. They
begin with sort of sigh, deep and cultural,
yet so prolonged that it must have cost no
effort; this sigh is succeeded by silence of
few seconds. and then comes growl from
the chest, which seems to issue through closed
lips and swollen cheeks. The growl, begin
ming in very bass note, gradually rises
higher and louder till the roar bursts forth
in all its grandeur and finishes as it CON-
menced. After five or six roars he finishes
with the same number Of low, hoarse cries,
which seem as if he was trying to expel
something sticking in his throat, that last
being very prolonged. Nothing in Gerards
remembrance presented, fitting point OF
comparison with this terrible roar OF the
lion. The believing of q bull is no more
like it than pistol shot is like the sound of
a thirty-two-p FOUNDER. Imagine what terror
such roar would inspire, heard in the
lonely mountain passes under the silent stars
On this occasion the lion roared for two
hours without quitting his place, and then
descended into the valley to drink long
silence followed, and then he began again
more vigorously than ever. Soon after,
Gerard saw the fires blazing in the distance,
and heard the men, women and dogs yelling
as if possessed with devils for one Instant
u roar covered all this tumult like thunder
clap and then the lion seemed TO continue
his route quite TRANQUILITY, not in the least
disturbed by all this noise, which only
seemed like triumphant music acco companyug
the powerful monarch on his mach. He
Ia = in
spired; at any rate he knew no terror at the
presence OF Arabs.
We have no space to tell Gerard's own
story here. The lions are our subject, and to
them must be given all our attention. The
curious reader is referred 10 the two books
named at the commencement of this article
for further information.
Gerard describes at great length the death
Of his first lion but although he learned sew
eral useful details by which he afterwards
probticd. the campaign, was not one which
can be abridged here with interest. His Sc
cond lion was nearly the victor He had tied
up the dogs in the tents in order to preserve
silence. Suadi-bou-Nar, his companion, slept
behind him on the ground, while we, rifle in
hand. awaited the appearance of his enemy.
Suddenly the sky, which had been brilliant,
was overclouded; the moon disappeared !;
the thunder began to mutter in the distance,
like distant lion; large drops of rain falling
on the Arab, awakened him, ana made him
urge Gerard to retire within the tents. At
this moment the Arab shouted, BE on your
guard; the lion will come when the storm is
ut its heighth." Protecting his rife with the
burnous, Gerard waited, smiling to observe
the heroic resignation with which SaaGi-bou.
Mar draped himself in his bournous. The
raln like all storm rain, rapidly subsided.-
The sky was once more lighted hv the bril-
liant moonbeams occasionally piercing
through interspaces Of cloud at the horizon
few flashes OF lightning were seen. Gerard
grateful for the htful light, peered anxiously
into space, and in one OF the sudden flashes
there stood the lion, motionless only few
PAGES from the en- closure Of the dotior. Ac-
customed to find fires lighted, dogs bowling
in terror. woman frantic, and men throwing
lighted brands at his head. the lion was per-
haps meditating on the meaning OF this silence
and calm.
Turning carefully, so as TO take deliberate
aim without the lions perceiying him, Gerard
felt his heart beat as the last cloud passed over
the moon. He was seated with the left ell
bow on his knee, the rifle at his shoulder,
looking alternately at the lion, which presen-
ted only confused mass 10 his eye, and the
cloud that travelled slowly over the moon
At last his heart leaped-the moon shone in
al! her spiendor Never was sunlight more
priced. There stood the lion, motionless as
before; o magnificent creature, superSly ma
jestic, with bis head aloit, his main tossed by
the wind, and falling 10 the knee. 1t was u
black lion Of the gran dest species. His side
was turned towards his enemy. Aiming just
underneath the shoulder, Gerard fired and at
the same lime that the explosion was re-
echoed by the mountains, rose the roar of
rage and pain, and through tie smoke the H.
on bounded on his assailant 1t was an aw-
ful moment. The lion was within three pa
ces there was no time to aim the second
barrel was fired at hazard, and struck him in
the breast; he rolled expiring at the hunters S
feet. AT first" says Gerard. IL could not
believe that the animal had just seen boun-
ding upon me in fury, and rending her air with
his cries, was the nloustrous inert mass lying
at my feet. On looking for my balls found
the first, which had not been mortal, placed
exactly where had aimed it; and the sec.
! ond fred almost at random, had been the one
which proved fatal. From this moment
learned that it is not sufficient to aim accur-
ately to kill lion; and began to see that
lion hunting was far more serious than had