Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1868-07-29
WILDG GAME IN AFRICA.


ladt WILD GAME IN AFRICA. 4
gZ9Let the sportsman imagine stalking a
herd of giraffes possibly . more than
hundred in number,5 with extraordinary
power of vision, scent9hkeI that of stags,
and superior speed ,Gnand flesh which Sir.
IS. Baker, who's has eaten ,mostn things,
from biabber topdtes:de foae gras, declares
to be the best he ever tasted ;ior harpoon-
ing the hippopotamus,a aqbrdtes which, if
excited, can crsaun CHI his assailaht in two,
.which can run till no aman may escape.
which will go up a preepitous ravine, and
docs not fear clear dive p from point,
twenty feet sabove the water He is worth
baggiug apparently, even if he did not
yield, as he does, hundreds of pounds of
ahlghly yaedibie meat 200E pounds of fat,
icoorbatches or viii ps to the einumbero of 200
per hide, andteeth which are eagerly'pur-
chased by. dentists, because the ivory will
not dlscolonlGC Crocodiles not niceate eat.
though natives eatthem ;but there is some.
thing in shooting or harpooning scaled
imenster whei can swallow a
human being at a. bite, which appeals
strongly Itodhe magination sa Of smaller
game thereiap to be no end. the most
plentiful OF, all being the gazelle, ofwhich
Sir ,S- Baker relates one extremelyaamus-
ing story,Tto as perfeetl ly new The Arabs
course them with dogs, ,}orely yiug upon a
mental popularity without analogy, we
imagine, sin the animal. Kingdom 1.-The
gazelle runs away aud beats the dogs com
lpietel "; but becomes SO proud of the feat
SO salng lorious ofits Lspeed, that it stops
and executes kind of war-dauce, bound
ing and gambolings with exuitation, until
it exhausts Its stregth and is at last run
down. bThere something almost human
In that absurdity, as strange to say, there
is jim nloneof the tricks ofthed crocodile.
We could hardly quote better speicim en-
of Sir S. Baker So sty lie as naturalist and
sportsman than this charming little de-
scriptions: EsbaU yagT90m90 20 augn
sEFew creatures. are so sly and wary as
the crocodile. | watch them continually as
they abtackothe dense focksi of small b rds
that throngt the bushes at the waters edge.
These birds are perfectly aware Of the
danger, and they fly from the attack if
possible. The crocodile then quietlyand
lies upon the surface, as'though
it had appeared quit by an accident; it,
thus attracts the attention of the birds,
and it slowly sails away to a considerable
distanceq exposed to their view The
birds, titus beguiled by the deceiyer;,i be-
lieve that the danger is removed, and they
again flock to the bush, and once more dip
their thirsty beaks into the stream. Thus
absorbetp in shaking their thirst, they do
not observe that their enemy is olonger
on the surface. A sudden splash, follow
ed by a huge pair Of jaws beneath the bush
that enguHs some dozen of victims; is the.
signal unexpectedly given of the crocs
dies return, who had thus slyly dived,
and has ened under cover of water to his,
victims. have seen the crocodiles re-
peat this maneuvre constantly; they de-
ceive by feigned retreat, and then attack
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