Nevada County picayune., 1889-08-07
ATTACKED BY A LION.
Thrilling Story of a Strange De-
 fenSiye Alliance.

ne 1OllOWlng true story inigHt almost be ranked with some of Aesop's fables, under the name of ''The Man, the Lion and the Baboons." It is related by cred itable witness, MT. Charles Holland Lille, who was travelling in South Africa. The tact that lions have been observed, on other occasions, to be inundated by balloons, is mentioned in standard works of natural history. Our correspondent writes:
 We were outspanned by the spring of Moot-lontein (Beautiful Water) in Bechuanaland, our busi- ness being that of traders in wool, feathers and ivory. We had come thirty miles through the veldt-a long pull for oxen-and we, therefore, determined to rest the entire day at this graceful little patch of verdure and water. Our camp and equip mcnt consisted of two large hooded buck wagons, with about thirty draught oxen, thirteen kailirs and our two selves-that is, Nieland, the Dutch trader, and myself.
 Ut wanted rather more than an hour till sundown, when Neiland turned to me and said: I am going to walk as far as that kopje (hillock) and see if the cattle are on the other side; the boys ought to be bringing them in by now; and away he went. It was our practice, as it is the gen eral custom of traders and travellers, to have the cattle home and tied up to the disscl-boom of the wagons for the night; then, by lighting a couple of fires and leaving the dogs loose, we generally considered ourselves secure from nocturnal intruders, though we heard them plainly enough, and often saw their starlike eyes peering at us from the gloom.
 "The 'kopje, as they call small hills in Africa, was probably further away than Neiland had imagined, for he was some little time in reaching it. Some of the Kailirs were squat ting by me, where l stood by the fire cooking our supper, and watching Nicland, as he walked slowly across the heated, shlmmcring plain.
 Arrived at the kopje he ascended it little, looked on either side of him, and then made his way round to the other side of the hill. He had accomplished more than half the distance. and was out of sight of the camp, when he took another survey. As the kopje was broken, uneven and rocky, bad for walking, his eyes had been bent on the ground. When he raised them for a more extended view he was mortified to find that he was being watched by an immense lion--a great tawny brute, with a black manc and flashing eyes. The animal was little below him, stand ng on the level ground.
 ! "Nieland stood perfectly still, startled into absolute immobillty fascinated by the danger of his position. In those few seconds, which seemed to him hours, he was bitterly blaming himself for having left his gun behind, and naturally his hand had gone to his belt, hoping t( find, at least. his revolver, but to hi' disnay he was armed with nothing
 
 better than a hunting-knlfc.
 -Thc Ijoa ,ud moi advance, hn stood as if waiting for a m"vcmcn on the mans part. and thc man di' the most natural thing under tn circumstances. With his face to tn foe he slowly and cautiously began to retreat up the hillside. What h
 hoped for he was hardly conscious of except, perhaps, that he might clim
 some point inaccessible to the four
 footed beast. but it was almost hope
 less work, owing to the nature O