The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1878-10-10

rows of dwellings, and all the way down
from our house to the Sd Avenue there
extended high board fence, inclosing
what at some previous time had been
the spacious stage stables of Murphy
& Co. wnf
The night Of which / speak was one
of those uncomfortably hot ones of
which we usually have three or four
during the season in this city. | re-
member, as we drove up the avenue,
how grateful the air that was caused by
the motion of the vehicle was, and, as
put nv head out of the window once
or twice, noticed that full moon was
shining. When we. reached the house
it was sultry to think of going to bed,
ed as we came in laughing and talk
ing about Bakers odd notions, / made
the remark that he had some curious
whims for practical man, and L was
very much amazed to hear Stark coin
eide with them. We had passed into
a little back parlor whose windows
opened upon a veranda, and looked
down some Is feet into an ordinary city
yard, on one side of which the sheds of
the stage stables reared themselves,
NONs VIC diG slAObt, odlu ObdI y ,
"and it's too hot to sleep; if you'll sit
down here, light your cigars aud allow
me to smoke pipe, III tell you what
occurred to me, and why | side with
Baker, agreed" I exclaimed
" Throw yourself on that lounge, I'll
just open these door to get draught
and see if | can find something to wet
your whistle" r --rr
"Iieut. Barbiere and myself" said
Stark, when we had all settled our
selves, "started two years ago from
Zanzibar to go up among the Gala
tribes in Zanguebar. TWAS long and,
to me, excessively tedious expedition,
for was sick three weeks with the fe-
yer, and must have died ii had it not
been for the kind nursing of the Lieu
I tenant. BY the way-it was during my
! cOnvalescence on that expedition that /,
for the only time in my life, ate serpent.
1t had always made ne sick to see the
natives strip and eat boa, but on this
occasion we were out of provisions and
ammunition, and l could have
eaten hedgehog. The party
that had been sent to meet
us came up the Biwamba Greek,
and get aground on sand-bar. When
we encountered them we were out of
every thing. The first thing Barbiere
and | did when we got a supply of car
tIidges was to lay out days hunt. We
took tepee and two niggers, and start
ed off one morning from the camp ear
! ly. These natives professed to know of
a place where certain kind of spring
box and antelope frequehted, and prom
Used US plenty OF sport. At nightfall
we put up our tepee, and went to bed
without having had and luck worth
ing early, and calling Zimbobo, one of
the servants, we got our breakfast qui-
city, and then started off on s. hunt,
leaving our companions snoring sound
ly. wish could give you an idea OF
that morning. l have never seen any
thing like it since. We were almost
directly under the equator, and the sun
shone through lens Of dense purple
vapor SO brilliant that il almost blinded
me. Our tent was il clump of Gala
bash and thorn trees, and when looked
back at it from q distance of 800 feet, |
thought for a moment that it was on
fire. The white canvas cleaned
through the boiling mistS like setting
sun. As we emerged from the timber
upon what was a little plain or prairie,
this heavy irridescent fog lay in places
ike colOred lake, level with our chins,
and nothing was seen by either of US but
two cleaning heads moving on paint
ed sea. Further on, when the sun had
lifted this stratum just above our heads,
we walked under a roof like that of
stained glass, and every thing under
this canopy burned with an unnatural
color. The indigo plant and plantains
wore all the hues of the prism, and the
blue guinea fowls that we started plung-
ed into the mist with a splendor not un-
ike colored rockets.
al was armed with heavy English
rifle, and Zimbobo carried another of
lighter BORE | also had with me apair /
of French pistols and an American
bowie-knite. | not unreasonably hoped
to bag an antelope at least, but you can
not understand my desire until YOU
have lived for week on ghee and man.
ioc and rice, with arrowroots Boiled in
nut-on for occasional dessert. In about
an hour ~e'broke through this fog, and
came out on a wide prairie, dotted here
and there with stunted mimosa trees,
and growing thick in spots with panda-
ma palms. noticed as we went on that
the timber grew scant and that we were
travelling up slight grade. L had the
coed fortune to start herd of antelope
about noon, and brought one down.
The place where it fell was unsheltered,
and leaving Zimbobo to cut it up, /
strolled on, seeing some trees ahead
which would afford me shelter from the
sun. 4 t !
Imagine my surprise when reached
the trees to find myself upon the edge
of an almost perpendicular bluff, so or
40 feet high, that extended on either
hand as far as could see. The scene
that burst on me was so unexpected and
50 strange that it almost took away my
breath. At the bottom of the bank or
cliff was a white strand, 10 feet wide,
and beyond that lay blue and cleaning
the waters of Lake Baringo, dotted with
q million wild fowl. the sun had
dispelled the mists of the morn
ing, aud far away to the north
l saw the white peaks of the Snow
Mountains. Beckoring and shouting to
the native TO follow me, walked along
this cliff searching for place to get
down, feeling sure that l would find
ravine worn through it somewhere. AT
one place l had to skirt grove of gum
trees, that grew very thick and was
heavily interlaced with a rank creeper.
| was compelled to go a quarter of a
mile out of my way, and thus lost sight |
of the bluff for awhile. On the other |
side of the grove Zimbobo joined me,
and together we slowly approached the
ravine through the grass and under
brush. The moment | stood upon the
edge of the bluff once more, and looked |
down at the sand and water, l received |
a surprise and a sensation that were
new to me. There, not so feet from me,
standing in an imperial attitude upon
the beach, was magnificent lion. For
an instant admiration and astonishment |
almost petriied me. The beast was a
Il. IL l..