The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1858-05-04

Oge:huntsr ~ down % . seene On Ne
bank Of The stream, and Tho Arab hid him
self u some bushes short distance Of -
Amer time he heard, from tho opposite
bans jast facing him, : soand similar T. |
long CULTURAL sigh or groan hs dies beard
the Hon approaching the stream % ne OPP
pOsite side, then crossing il AMI chnbing up
: bank where he was sitting.
On casting his eyes ecwaris where the
sound proceeded from, DO saw through the
dafkness two bornings eyes liked upon ana
that & THE moment the sight Of those burn
| ing ejes steadfastly gazing ut him calsc..
the perspiration to break out ON his fore
head, although the moment before he had
been shiverinX. with cold. Il inwardly bade
farewell (says, Ae{ 10 AL who were dear to
me, and made up my mind to die brayely."
He now for few moments Lost sight Of
those eyes; tho, lion descended into the
ravine, and Was evidently climbing the
precipitous baslk.on which Gerard had taken
up his position
On reaching the top, Gerard says, "A mo-
ton which could not repress evidently
drew his attention. and caused him to stop
he was not more than I've spaces oil, and
eo,sld have reached me in one bound
The darkness was such that he could not
see the barrel Of his rife, therefore he fred
1t random from his hip.
The beast appeared to rear himself upa and
fall back. He.must have been disabled; the
hunter and his guide then Quilted the wood
and returned to the house. Next day they
returned to the scene,of action to search for
the carcase; but they found only quantity
of blood and q bonei the size Of . finger.
which appeared 70 be part Of blade bone
The hunter found goodsized root Of o
! tree bitten thveugh BY the teeth Of the lion
within two yards Of the place where he had
been sitting The lion had retreated along
the stream, therefore his footsteps were
edaced, and he could not then follow him.
Next day sixty Arabs, come on horseback
and some on foot, started off on an expedi-
ton against the wounded lion. Gerard
gives humorous description of the scene.
the false ALARMS, and the assumed courage
Of these heroes. The catastrophe is all that
we have sufficient space to give.
! Gerard had crossed the stream, and was
about to remount his horse, when he saw
the cavaliers, the scheik at their head, gall
Looping away in all directions, followed by
the lion on three legs, his wounded limb
trailing under him. He at length stopped,
sulky and threatening, near little thicket.
into which he retreated.
! Gerard proceeded towards the thicket
when the lion, rushing upon him, was met
BY rifle ball, which struck him above the
right eve, and he fell He, however, recov-
cred himself instantly, with the force and
suddenness Of spring of steel As he
reared up on his hind legs, another ball
reached his heart, and put and end to his
misery.
ION examining the lion at Bone" says
Gerard, 81 found that the ball over the eye
had not penetrated the bone 1t wac fat
tened on the surface to about the thickness
Of a franc piece."
We will mention one more conflict among
the many on record, which took place on
/ the I'd or Sd Of January, lS47, in which the
Spahi Rostiang and another Arab were Sc
verely wounded by the lion. For ten DAVIS
together Gerard, after having twice wounded
this beast, followed and watched for him,
until he was rewarded by finding him dead
in the woods
| ION one occasion, when he had just fred
at and killed u lion, he was suddenly con-
fronted by another, which made spring at
HIM Firing his second barrel he rolled
him over, mortally wounded. The lion,
however, recovered himself, and sprang up
on the hunter, and for five minutes the man
and monster were struggling together on
the ground. The hunter, however, managed
to plant his knife in the lions heart, and
conquered
Gerard succeeded in capturing two lion
| cubs when they were about the size Of CATS
male and female The female soon died,
but the male lived, and was for some time a
kind of pet of the hunter, and fayoritc in
the regiment He, however, when he grew
older took to his father trade and, although
gentle with and much attached to his mast
er, he became dangerous to others. 1t was
therefore. necessary to conine him. and
eventually he WAS placed in the menagerie
NJ Paris. Some time afterward Gerard
when on a visit to Paris, went to see his old
protege. The beast Immediately recognized
him, and testified his delight by endeavoring
to break through all opposition to get at his
frienl. He did not long survive his incar-
| ceration.
The character which Gerard gives Of the
lion, generally, is not at all q favorable one.
lie tells us that most of what has been writ
| ten, with regard to his noble qualities, gen.
crosby, DC, is absolute romance and nom
sense.
This is his account of the lion :-"Tkis
animal, which has been thought to be gen.
erous and almost rational, invariably attacks
man when he thinks he can do SO without
risk Like the cat, to whom he is nearly re-
lated, he waits for his prey, and crouchcs
before springing upon it Like all animals
of the species OF which he 10 the type, the
lion is essentially nocturnal beast During
the day he is timid, and dares not approach
the habitation OF man and he often allows
. single man to approach his lair. without
daring to attack him When night comes.
however, oil his ferocious instincts wake up,
aud he revels in destruction, often, when he
has the chance, killing many more defence
less animals than he can devsar.
One Of the many admirers of Jules Ger
ard, Adolphe d Iiondetot, thus portrays him:
"Frail, and delicate in person, intrepid
and strong Of heart, noble and gentle
of countenance, silent, his few words mod
est and direct to the point, Arab in deport-
ment, grave and religious
Our readers will perceive that, in a me-
moir Of this kind. it is impossible to give
more than a very meagre outline Of the ca
reer Of this extraordinary man The few
Incidents we have been enabled to notice
ore merely types of many other adventures
In lS4S, Gerari visited Paris, when a
grand banquet was organized in the saloon
Of Douix, at the Palais- Royal, to celebrate
his arrival; at which banquet its happened
that Gerard was seated next to another CO.
lebrity, namely, Alphonse Delgorgne, the
elephant killer. After this, Gerard return
ed to Africa, where he remained until 1853.
He has attained the rank Of lieutenant
His enthusiastic admirer, Adolphc d lIou-
detot, thinks that to complete his glory the
hunter ought to be killed and eaten up by
II lion. We sincerely hope he will escape
such climax OF honor.
Gerard has lately visited London, but is
. now returned to the scene Of his daring ex-
ploits with the great Algerian Sporting Elk.
petition (now in Africa whose adventures
and observations we shall chronicle from
time to time
: Mr. HARRIS, OF ILLINols--Hs APPEAR
. ANcs IN THE HousE.-Hon. S. Colfax, in a
letter to his constituents, published in the
} South Bend Register, says:
.Mr Harris Of Illinois il far rome in