The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1889-03-21
IN THE BANANA BELT.

IN THE BANANA BELT.
Bill Nye and Rider Haggard's Surpris-
ing Adventures.
Many southern people come to st.
Paul and Minneapolis, it is said, in or
der to escape the rigors of their own
winter. The banana belt, extending
from Duluth to Winnipeg, reminds
one of tropical Africa. Last week
Mr.. Riley Haggard and I started out
for little quiet elephant shooting in
the country. Bidding farewell to the
concierge at the hotel, we packed our
heavy express rifles and smooth bore
elephant guns, penetrated as far as
the sleeping car could covey us, and,
bidding farewell to our faithful Wan
Wenga, who caressed us both with a
whisk-broom to the value of twenty
scudi, we hired an elephant apiece
and began to permeate the jungle,
preceded by our trusty bird-dog.
At the kraal or livery stable where
we engaged our elephants we were told
that game was very plenty about thir-
ty miles across the dinglelow, and that
in small forest of jingsang trees and
hools bushes quite covey of quagga
and elephants had been scared up by
Boer who had penetrated the jungle
accompanied by his brake or dog.
The first night we camped beneath
the shade Of Vienna bread fruit tree
on the borders of the Karroo, and pre-
venting the escape of our trusty ele-
plants by attaching their trunks, we
began to prepare our evening meal. l
read the directions from a book of Af-
rican travel, and my very faithful
comrade, Mr.. Riley Haggard did the
cooking.
First refreshing ourselves with a
long draught from gourd of spoopju
from Peoria, marked 1912, so called
because it is placed on the market
eighteen hours and forty two minutes
after it is made our faithful gun bear
er, Ylang Ylang, began to carve the
bultong, Meiboss, and jerked muskrat
for the evening meal. Making bright
fire of harrow bushes and fresh train
figs, wad of mealies was soon sim
mering over the Goals.
We had hardly swallowed our sup
per, and Mr.. Rider Haggardiwas about
to climb a date palm to secure few
luscious lecture dates, when our ears
were sa,uted by most unearthly and
ear piercing roar from the heart of the
jungle. At this moment our faithful
Ylang Ylang came in with eyes stick
ing out like a sore thumb to announce
that our bird-dog had flushed large
Abyssinian lion.
Hurriedly putting little Mayon-
naise dressing on our faithful Ylang
Ylang, we sent him out to parley with
the lion while we put on our telegraph
climbers, and filling our pockets with
bultong we ascended Duluth palm
tree.
We had not long to wait The
wongwanga bushes parted and low,
heavy set performing lion crept softly
into the open Karroo, preceded at a
distance of about three-quarters of an
inch by our faithful Ylang Ylang. As
the poor fellow jumped low Kirdish
bush, heard crunching sound such
as ! mover hope to hear again, and
turned away my head rather than see
our trusty gun bearer in the act OF
backing into lion.
As soon as I could regain my cour.
age by small nip ofspoopju, I looked
back at the sickening spectacle. All
was still save the distant song of the
red breasted blim. .blam in the Kooioo
bushes.
Suddenly remembering how l had
once seen a lion tanner make a lion
quail, descended from the tree and
talking small riding whip with me,
said, "Hil" and whipping him across
the forelegs, in the mean time fre
quently making the remark "HiY' ]
drove him away from there. Out o.
the kraal, down the sloot or dry water
course and across the Karroo lands hs
sped and 30 ON back to Winnipeg
where he joined his congress of rar,
wild beasts, as I afterwards learned.
Hastily saddling our elephants ane
sinching them tightly, SO that tn,
howdah could not slip around under
the stomach of the noble beast, v,
mounted by means of freight ca
standing near by and returned acros
the transvaal, whatever that is, ant
hiring diligence, we packed our re
naming supply OF bultong, elephan
tusks, spoopju, pemmican, elephan
blubber, sacred COW meat, dried yak
krooliejam Milwaukee Heidsieck, an,
glossary of hard works from Rile,
Haggard, and took the cars at Stanle,
Pool, resolving to penetrate still fun
3 ther into the tropical depths Of tn
! northwest.