The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1890-04-09


on3fthe subsequent days. For some
mysterious reason they had tempo
rarily left the district. Il crossed the
little streamlet in order to enter
the belt of thorns (which grew
upon the hillside beyond,i for there4I
hoped to find buck. AS did so was
rather disturbed to see thesspoor of two
lions in. the soft, sandy edge of pool.
Breathing a hope that they might not
still be- in the neigilborhoodjI went on
into the belt Of scattered, thorns. For
long while ! hunted about without. seeing
anything, except one dinker buck, which
bounded off with crash, from the other
side of stone without giving me a
chance. Atlength, just as it grew dusk,
] spied Petite buck, graceful little
creature, scarcely bigger than large
hare, standing on stone, about forty
yards from me-. Under ordinary cir
cumstances should never have dreamed
of firing at such thing, especially with
an elephant gun, but we were hungry.
So I sat down with my back against
rock, and aimed steadily at it's head. I
did this because if struck it in the BODY
the three-ounce ball would have knocked
it to bits,s At last pulled the. trigger,
the gun went off with the report of a
small cannon. and tie buck disappeared
Iran to the spot with more anxiety than
I'should have felt in an ordinary way
over a koodoo or an Gland. To my delight
there the little creature lay-the huge
bullet had decapitated it. Considering
all the circumstances, do not think /
have often made, better shot than this,
but il, any one doubts, let him try his
hand at a rabbits head fifty yards away
with an elephant gun and n three-ounce
ball.
picked up the petite in triumph and .
returnedsto the camp There we skinned
him and toasted him over the fire. He
just made good meal for us, keeping
the hind legs for breakfast.
There was no moon that night, and so
it CHANGED that when suddenly remem-
bered about the lion spoor, and suggested ?
that we had better tie up the horses quite
close to- us, we could not find them,
though we knew that they were grazing
Within fifty yards. This being so, we
Gould only make up the, fire and take our
chance. Shortly afterwards i went to
Sleep, with little Fota in nv arms. Sud
denly Jtwss5 Awakened by hearing that
peculiarly painful sound, the scream of
horse, quite close to the fire, which
was still burning brightly. Next second
there came a noise of galloping hoofs,
and before | could even rise my poor
horse appeared in the ring of freight.
AS in flash Of lightning, [ saw his star
ing eyes and wide stretched nostrils, and
the broken rein with which he had been
knee battered flying in the air. Also I
saw something else, for on his back was
a great dark form with glowing eyes,
and from the form came a growing
sound. 1t was lion.
The horse dashed on. He galloped
right through the fire, FOR which he had
run in his terror, fortunately, however,
without treading on us, and vanished
into the night. We heard his hoofs for a
hundred yards or more, then there was
silence, broken now and again by distant
growls. AS may be imagined, we did
not sleep any more that night, but waited
anxiously till two hours later the dawn
broke.
AS soon as there was sufficient light
we rose, and, leaving Tota still asleep,
crept cautiously in the direction in which
the horse had vanished. When we had
gone fifty yards or SO, we made out its Z