Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1892-11-23
A RACE FOR LIFE.


Central Africa, until my poor horse
was nearly exhausted. The froth
dropped from his mouth and be-
meath his saddle, while OH his shout
ders and launches it was so rapidly
evaporated by the blazing sun, that
his hide seemed literally baked be-
meath it's fervid rays. When |
patted him the crusty, scorched
hair and skin were almost unbear-
able to the touch, and | became
sensible that if had much farther
to ride to reach my friends encamp-
ment, | should certainly have to
take a rest, as the sun was nearly at
its meridian height.
had encamped the night before
with my three friends-Bagstoch,
Cammay and Haldidge, on the bank
of small stream, not far from the
Achilvay Mountains. Several times
through the night, Cammay, who
was standing watch, asserted that
he heard the trumpetings of ele-
plants, and on the morning of the
present day, | had risen with the
intention of having regular "ele-
plant hunt" To my great chagrin
each of the three hunters refused tC
partake of my enthusiasm. Not
one seemed to care "a particle about
"bagging" one of these colossal
quadrupeds. used all the ele.
quence of which ! was capable, but
it availed nothing. They had hac
a pretty good days work, and hat
determined on twenty-four hours
rest. Resolved that | should no.
be defrauded out of my coveted
hunt, | mounted my steed, and
started toward a jungle, where
had gained a glimpse of large
male elephant, crushing his way
through, as if he had already taken
alarm.
1t proved a regular wild goose
hunt. It must have been that the
sagacious creatures had really scent
ed danger, for the whole herd, num-
bering nearly seventy, after max
ing their way through the jungle,
took "A direct line across the coun-
try, and kept up their extraordinary
speed for several hours, until |
refined up my horse, and gave over
the hunt in disgust.
The day was one of those terri
bly, hot ones, such as are only ex-
perienced in the tropical regions,
and which cannot be equaled by
any place outside of Central Africa.
The earth and everything upon it
seems never to grow cool. have
wakened at midnight and found the
ground upon which ! was lying as
warm as if it were the covering of
an oven, and the water in deepest
recesses of the wood or jungle was,
to use a vulgar expression, like
"dishwater."
Refining my horse down to "a
walk, | allowed him to progress at
his leisurely gait, until | recalled
the warning my friends had given
me, that if | were not back to camp
by noon, they would move away
without waiting for me. While |
doubted their real intention of do
ing this, as | well knew they wish
ed long rest, still | knew Bag
stoch would take great deal OF
pleasure in leaving me to hunt
them up. The probabilities in his
case were that he would persuade
them to leave the encampment
somewhat before the time they had
given me had expired.
Urged with this thought, |
spurred my horse into rapid gal
lop, which | kept up until common
humanity urged me to give over
for time, at least, upon the ami
mails account.
In the excitement of the hunt, |
had paid little heed to the particu-
lar character of the country over
which | was iourneying, as it was
easy enough to see; tracing the
trail made by the elephants, from
the Jungle where they had started,
the wished for encampment could
be seen.
I was soon gratified by sight of
the identical jungle, and making
my way through it, ] was more
greatly pleased by the sight of my
three companions. They had just
mounted, and appeared to be on the
point of moving away. Shouting
to them, my horse broke into a
rapid gallop, and in few moment
was beside then.