The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1875-03-11
Lion Hunting in Algeria.

| A1ou 11lSiC1ls IN Algeria
A Chicago man has been enjoying the
excitement Of lion hunting i'll Algeria,
and sends to the Tribune of that city an
account Of his adventures. The following
passage occurs in the narrative: ABOUT
three miles from the entrance OF the gorge
in deep rayine running OH 70 one slde
is what is known as Monkey Valley, where
there are lot of wild monkeys. BY pay
ino a couple of francs to an old Arab
whom we found in hut close by, we
were led off this ravine for about a quar-
ter of a mile. and, after hunting around
for few minutes came upon a whole
colony of our cousins There were prob
ably a hundred altogether, some hanging
| from the trees or perched upon them, in
| all shapes. and a few scampering about on
the ground among the undergrowth-and
all iabbering rapidly and yehemently.
| They were not altogether wild, and after
lew minutes, some OF them even VEN
! tureq towards us. Others soon followed,
and in quarter Of an hour they were all
within 80 yards of us. and a few even ven
| ture9 on. the trees above our heads. In a
rash moment | tried to enslave small
| one which | caught under some bushes.
But the moment | caught it | thought
Bedlam was broken loose; they all SEEM
ed to Obiect-three OF four big males es-
! pecially. | paid no attention to their re-
monstrances, and turned to go away with
my little prisoner, when suddenly a great
| old granny fell on my head and shoulders,
from somewhere up in the clouds SO |
said | thought so, too, and laid the little
monkey down and quietly took walk
| When | reached the hut | needed a sur
| geon and tailor more than usual | do
not remember whether was very much
scared OF not, but | do know that | thought
afterwards, when calmly meditating about
the future, that if lions were much larger
and more savage than that old monkey, |
| did not believe | wanted to see any of
them.
About three hours later. the same party
that had started after the lions before now
struck the trail again 1t was not difficult
to follow, for there was now and then,
blood upon it. 1t led us up and around
the side of hill, until we came to the
table land between that and another hill
We went down this for an hour OF more
when the leader, who was a hundred yards
or more in advance motioncd US to stop
He rode back to us, spoke something
Arabic to those in advance of us. when he
lett his horse and went on foot We all
| then dismounted, lett the horses in charge
OF three OF the men, and followed at some
distance in the rear OF the leader in per
feet silence In few moments we began
to hear a noise, which at once gave us to
understand we are near the object of our
/ search. 1t was a deep. rumbling groWl.
! VI now took our way more cautiously
than before, until we came to a place
where there was an abrupt descent for
about fifty feet Here the trail struck off
to the right and descended. In looking
down into the narrow valley below us we
saw to the right a thicket OF dense under
growth. 1t was from thence the noise pro-
cecded. The brush was so thick that, not
| WIthstandng the elevation and our down
ward view, we could see nothing. The
| spot where we halted was covered with
! iar-slZel trees, mostly white oaks We
Immediately placed ourselves at the brink,
side by side, with our guns ready. Thus
tar We had made no noise, but one of the
Arabs, IN getting into his position, had
! slipped and let his gun fall among some
rocks. Immediately there was a loud
growl, and the male lion leaped at one
bound into the open space at the foot of
| the decllvity. | shall never forget the feel
ings of that moment. The magnificent
beast stood there for n second, the very
| persOnificati0n of power and rage his
| name stood out like bristlos, his eyes seem
! ed to flash fire, his mouth, widely distcnd-
! ed, emitted Il roar which caused the very
| rock under us to vibrate. 1t was but a
second, although it seemed an age. Nine
! guns flashed before HIM. but their leaden
! hail seemed only to add fuel to his rage
and not to weaken him. We We're too
| high for him to reach Us. In his rage he
| tore the earth before hlm with his paws,
and roared until my nerves seemed charg-
ed with powerful current of electricity,
and could but with difficulty reload my
| gun. But suddenly he darted away to the
! right. Then the leader cried out tor us to
climb the trees, and everybody ran for Il
| tree and commenced to climb. In my
nervousness found had lett MY gun.
ran back to get it, and Just as had reached
the tree, and commenced to climb. the lion
bounded up the hill at the side. lie paused
for a moment, | was unable to climb.
dropped my gun on the ground and then
dropped myself | caught his eye Some
body says if you look a lion boldly in the
|
| tried it On this one; but it must have
been different kind of lion, or else my
effort was d very weak one. | saw that
he had made up his mind to eat me, and
my look did not seem to make any ap-
preciable change in his line of conduct, 50
Just set my hair on end, whitened up my
face, and started down the other side OF
the hill on little sWeepstake OF my own.
| / at l,n+
ment the men on the trees opened on the
lion, and one ball went through his heart,
and he tell from mdair with Il gigantic
bound but halt completed. The men
jumped down and rushed towards him,
but they stopped very suddenly. for the
old king Of beasts, royal in death as in
life, by a terrible effort, sprang up on his
launches to leap again at his destroyers,
when death seized him, and he fell short
OF his mark
Our reioieings were cut short by some
body raising the question of the where
abouts Of the lioness. Two of the Arabs
started down to the thcket A moment
later we heard couple of shots and a
shout of triumph We all Immediately
went down and found the loness quite
dead, and almost cold. The Arabs claim
Ell to have killed her; but knew, and so
did they, that it was false.
Two men were left in charge of the
bodies, and the remainder returned to
camp. In the general rejoicings that
night. after the lions had been brought in,
though often invited, Antoin and | took no
part. But in the morning, after making
some presents to the Sheik, who was now
recovered, and taking our leave, we mount
ed our camels and returned to Ain Oussera
caravanSary.
The Erevity of Life.