Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1868-11-06

'aT-e- .- a'.' F's y.'HHyi ~sduo .s2sao!b "a
elephants. bippopotami, buffaloes,, rhino.
ceros. girafes, and great numbers Of the
large antelopes. Lions, altbough, nnmer:
GUS were exceedingly difficult, TO- bag
there was no chance but ip the the extreme
risk Of creeping through the thickest JIM
gle, Upon two or three occasions ! had
shot them BY crawling, into their very
dens. where they had dragged their prey;
and I. must acknowledge, that they were
much more frightened at me than I was
at them. I bad generally obtained most
difficult and unsatisfactory shot at close
quarters; sometimes l rolled them oyer
with a mortal wound, and they disappear; ga
ed to die in impenetrable jungles; but ct
all times fortune was on my side. On
moonlight nights L generally lay in wait
for these animals with great patience ;
sometimes shot hippopotami and used q
hind quarter as bait for lions,, while !
watched in ambush at about twenty yards
distant; but the hyanas generally appear
ed like evil spirits and dragged away the
bait before the lions had chance. /
never. fred at these scavengers, as they
are most useful creatures, and are con-
temptible as game. My Arabs had made
their fortune, as had given them all the
meat of the various animals. which they
dried and transported to Geera, together
with fat, hides, &c. It would be weary.
ing to enumerate the happy bunting days
passed throughout this country. We
we're never i'll for moment; although the
thermometer was seldom below $50 dur
ing the day, the country was healthy, as
it was intensely dry, and therefore free
from malaria; at night the Thermometer
averaged 700, which was delightful
Temperature for those who exist 10 the
open air. .z t-r-sr esS: ~
As our camp was full of meat, either
dried or in the process of drying in fes-
toons upon the trees, we had been great
attraction to the beasts of prey. that con
stantly prowled around our thorn fence
during the night. One night in particu-
lar lion attempted to enter. but had been
repulsed by the Tokrooris who pelted him
with frebrands; my people woke me up
and begged me to shoot him, but as ii
was perfectly impossible to FIRE correctly
through the hedge Of thorns. refused to
be disturbed ; yet I promised to hunt for
him on the following day. Throughout
the entire night the lion prowled around
the camp, growing and uttering his Pc
culiar cultural sigh. Not one of my peo-
pie slept. as they declared he would bound
into the camp and take somebody, unless
they kept up the watch6res and drove him
away with brands. The next day before
sunrise, called Hassan and Hadji Ali,
whom I lectured severely upon their cow
ardice on former occasion, and received
their promise to follow me to death.
entrusted them with my two Reillys No.
10; and with my little Fletcher in hand,
I determined to spend the whole day in
searching every thicket Of the forest for
lions. as felt convinced that the animal
that had disturbed US during the night
was concealed somewhere within the
neighboriug jungle. - ',s..' = u a'ss@i&
The whole day passed fruitlessly; I had
crept through the thickest thorns in vain;
having an abundance Of meats had re-
fused the most tempting shots at buffaloes
and large antelopes. as I had devoted N.Y.
self exclusively to lions l was much dis
appointed, as the evening had arrived
without a shot having been fired, aud as
the sun had nearly set l wandered slowly
towards home. Passing through alter
nate open glades few yards il, J" width,
hemmed in on all sides BY thick jungle, 1
was carelessly carrying my rife upon my
shoulder as I pushed my way through the
opposing thorus, when a sudden roar, just
before me, at once brought the rife upon
full cock, and I saw; magni6cent lion
standing in the middle Of the glade, about
ten yards from me he had been lying on
the ground. and had started to his feet
upon hearing me approach through she
jungle. For al, instant 7hee' stood id iinlait, ii,
attitude Of attention, as We were were hardly
visible but vt: at the same moment / took =
quick but sure shot with the little Fletcb-
er. He gavesia convulsive bound, but
rolled over backwards; before be could
recover himself I fred the left-hand bar.
rel. 1t was q aglorious sight. II had adj
vanced a few steps into the glade. and
Hassan had quickly banded me q spare
rife, while Taher Moor stood BY me sword
in hand. The lion. il the greatest fury,
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