The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1868-10-13
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kers work on tho Exploration ~ The
Nile tributaries oi Abyssinia is repIele
With interest
Every day from sunrise 10 sunset
l was either on foot or in The saddle,
without rest, except on Sundays There
was an immense quantity q large game,
aud ! bad made mixed bag d ele-
phants, giraiies, aud great numbers OF
the large ADtelopes Lions, although
numerous, were exceedingly difficult to
bag, there was 20 chance but in the
extreme risk Of creeping through the
tLiekest Jungle Upon two or three
occasions had shot them by crawling
into their very dens, where they had
dragged their prey; and | must ao-
knowledge that they were much more
frightened at me than / was at them. =
had generally obtained most difficult
aud unsatisfactory shot at close quar-
ters; sometimes | rolled them over
with mortal wound, and they disap-
poared, TO die in impenetrable jungles;
but at al times fortune WAS on my side
On moonlight nights | generally lay in
wait for these animals with great pa
tence; sometimes ! shot hippopotami
and used the hind quarter as bait for
hons while watched in ambush at
about twenty yards distant; but the
hyenas generally appeared like evil
spirits, and dragged away the bait be-
fore the lions had chance. never
fred at these scayengers, as they are
most usefll creatures and contempta
BILE 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, togeth-
er with fat, hides, &c. 1t would be
wearying to enumorate the happy hunt
ing days passed throughout this coun-
try. We were never III for a moment.
Although the thermometer was sel7
dom below SO deg during the day, the
country was healthy, as it was intense
ly dry, and therefore free from malaria.
At night the thermometer ranged TOE
which was a dehgtful temperature for
those who exist in the open air.
As our camp was full OF meat, either
dried or drying in festoons upon the
trees, we had been quite great attrac-
tion to the beasts Of prey, that con-
stantly prowled around our thorn fence
during the night. One night in par
ticular lion tried TO onter, but being
rennlsoi by the ssliooris, who pelted
him with Gro brandsi my people woke
me up, and begged me to sh OF him,
but as it was perfectly impossible to
fire correctly through the edge Of the
thorns, / refused to be disturbed; yet
| promised to hunt for him on the fol-
lowing day. Throughout the entire
night the lion prowled around the
camp, growing and giving his pecul-
lar gruttural sigh. Not one OF my men
slept, as they declared he would bound
into the camp and take somebody un-
less they kept up the watch fires and
drove 'im away with brands The
next day, before sunrise, called Has
san aud Hadjii Ali, whom | lectured
severely upon their cowardice on a
former occasion, and received their
promise to follow me TO death. en-
trusted them with my two Reillys No.
10; and with my little Fletcher in hand,
determined to spend the whole day
in seaaching every thicket Of the forest
for lions, as / felt convinced that the
animal who so disturbed us during the
night was concealed somewhere within
the nelghbolng jungle.
The whole day passed fruitlessly /
had crept through the thickest thorns
in vain; having an abundance Of meats
I bad refused the most tempting shots
at buffaloes and large antelopes. as l
had devoted myself exclusively to lions.
was much disappointed as the evening
had arrived without shot having been
fred, and as the sun had nearly set l
wandered slowly towards home. Pass
ing through alternate open glades q
few yards in width, hemmed in on all
sides by thick jungles, was carelessly
carrying my rife upon my shoulder as
pushed my way through the oppos-
ing thorns, when sudden roar, JUS
before me. at once brought the rife 10
full cock and / saw q magnificent 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 ap-
proach through the jungle. For an in
stant he stood in q listening position.
as we were hardly visible; but at the
same moment took quick bat sure
shot with my little Fletcher. He gave
couvulsive bound, but rolled over
backwards. Before be could recover