The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1889-06-06
PERILS OF THE JUNGLE,
The Unpleasant Side of a Hunter {
Life in the Tropics.
Provldential Escapes From an Awful
Death of Daily Occurrence Cha rmed
bya Lion-A Good -Natured
Reptile.

During the many years I was en-
ployed to procure wild animals for tn
great German museum outfltter,
naturally met with more or less ad
venture OF an exciting and dangerou
nature Indeed, it was all adventure
from start to finish, with scarcely
day that ones life was not in peril.
1t seemed as if Providence had 6
hand in some Of the close calls ant
narrow escapes. One time, when en-
camped between two OF the branche:
OF the Niger thirty miles from it
mouth. l went out on foot and alone
to locate a spot to set trap for bi!
serpent which the natives had espiet
and come to tell me of. had crossed
level piece of ground about thirty
rods wide, and had almost gained
the fringe OF wild rice on the fal
side, when black rhinoceros who
had been concealed in the thick
cover uttered "woofr' and came
charging full at me. He was not over
thirty feet away when wheeled" and
started at my best pace for the grove
OF trees / had left behind. In those
days | could run like horse for halt
mile, but l had not gone half the
distance when l heard the old fellow
close behind me, and realized that
was in deadly peril. He could outrun
me, and the only chance had was to
swerve quickly aside and let him pass
on. | was about to spring to the
right, when the ground trembled un-
der my feet and heard crash behind
me. | lglanced over my shoulder, to
find that my pursuer had disappeared
from sight, and when retraced my
steps found him at the bottom of a
cavity at least fifteen feet deep by ten
across. He struggled for awhile as
looked down upon him, and then sunk
out OF sight in the mud and water. He
had broken the crust of one of those
spots often to be met with on the low
lands OF Africa-a crust Of grass and
earth formed over a water hole or bed
OF quicksands. It had been strong
enough to bear me, but his weight had
proven his death. Had my line of
Hight been to the right or left by ten
feet the beast would have surely over
taken me and killed me in spite Of my
efforts.
Just week later while l was out
with three Of my men to kill fresh
meat for the camp, l took my station
under a great tres and sent them to
windward OF athicket, which suspect
ed might contain the game we wanted.
1t took them twenty minutes to get into
position, and pretty soon fine buck
deer came trotting toward me. Twas
concealed by the trunk of the tree, and
he came within twenty feet Of me and |
stopped. As he did so there was a |
swish" a crash among the branches,
sort OF shrek from the deer, and |
next moment he was in the embrace OF |
great python, which had tail-hold |
on the limb above r-y head. This SER
pent was fully twenty-five feet long,
and at his middle was nearly as large |
as nail keg. Why he had not at
tackled me is beyond my power OF
guessing. He must have known of nv
presence, and he surely had no fear OF
me- A serpent Of that kind, when
hungry enough to attack, would strike
at an elephant, SO far as fear was con-
cerned. = He was almost exactly above
my head, and he would have rendered
me powerlOss with his first blow.
SOME months subsequent to this in
cident ! was walking in path through
a forest over two hundred miles from
this spot. We were on the march,
twenty-five or thirty Of us, and had for
half nm hour been traversing path
used by animals in going to drink
ing place. ! had been in the lead for
two hours, when ! dropped back to
consult with one Of the ''bosses." One
OF the natives took my place and passed
on, but he had not gone fifty feet when
. serpent Of the same species, which
was hidden in the foliage 81 q tree,
struck and knocked him down and had
two coils about his body bsfore a shout
was raised. hurried forward with
my heavy shotgun, but the snake was
threshing the poor native about so
that ! dared not fire for several min
utes. Then, as the horrible head was
reared to hiss at me l shattered 1t with
buckshot. ! was too late to save the
man, however. He had been crushed
to a pulp-a fate that would surely
have been mine had / continued two
minutes longer In the lead.
On the Benne river, to the east Of
Cameron mountain, We had two or
three traps set for lions. One Of these
was q log trap, the same as Is used tor
bears In tho United States II was. in