The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1900-05-05

usual land in half an hour was asleep.
Suddenly I awOke, conscious that q
loud, hoarse sound Ilze-yet unlike
that made by a lion when seizing its
prey, was ringing in my ears, followed
by a rush, q crash and a plaintiye cry,
such as buffalo calf uttees when
deprived of its dam, sprang up IN
my cot, listening, and saw dark form /
creeping toward the tent, and then
Dolambi, one of the carriers, crouched /
at the open doorway. "a lion, master;
a lioni IT has caught a buffalol" he
whispered excitedly. We listened again |
no longer could we hear the bleating |
cry, but twice or thrice cultural sounds |
were borne on the gentle wind. I
jumped out, courting the attacks Of
myriads Of mosquitoes, which pierced /
through and through my pajamas, and, |
taking refuge in the smoke Of the fires
with the awakened natives, listened in /
tensely. The sounds appeared to em-
anate from a spot about q mile up the
river, and the boys said that a couple
of lions had seized a young buffalo
out of a troop in the reeds, and, have
ing dragged It on 10 the opposite bank,
were devouring it and growing be-
tween whiles. But was not satisfied,
for 1 had never before heard lion
without recognizing the sound be-
yond all doubt, whereas in this case 7
had many doubts.
Later on we heard a renewed crash
ing among the reeds, and grunts I
failed to recognize. That's no lion"
said; "Hnffaloes would never con-
tinue moving about and feeding feeding con-
tentedly in the reeds close to where
lion had attacked them. 1 believe
it's troop of elephants" I ordered
the boys to remain quiet, and keep the
fires low, as it was evident some big
/ beasts were advancing in our direc-
tion. A quarter of an hour later and
the question as TO their identity was
decided, as the slumbering forest rang
with the shrill, trumpet-like notes of
an elephant; then brief pause, dur
! ing which the echoes still vibrated on
the calm night air, and once more
! pealed forth the shrill, defiant chal-
4 lenge. How that sound electrifies a
camp, and what a thrill of excitement
it sends through the heart of the hunt
er! The grand music of the lions voice
4 has its special and llnequaled ohaEaps
Il but it sfleHces camp in a Wonderful
way. The boys cluster round the fires,
speaking with bated breath, and glanc-
ing fearfully behind and around them
into the darkness or the deceptive
moonlight, as they strive to make the
dying fires blaze up, hardly daring to
look one another in the face if the beast
be close at hand. But the shrill ehal-
lenge of an elephant eXcites and ex-
hilarates, for every one realizes that
mighty though his strength is, huge
his bulk and loud his voice, yet the
merest child need not fear. To slip into
my tent for two rifles and ammunition
and back into. the fire smoke to await
events, was the work of moment;
and how anxiously I watched that
wavering smoke as it blew sometimes
straight across the river, then in the
opposite direction, responsive to the
shifting currents! The elephants were
still leisurely feeding toward us, the
bulk keeping in the reeds and the bed
of the stream, but few apparently
moving through the forest on the
other side, still had hopes that as the
bank on our side was above the stream,
fortune might favor us, and the ele,
| plants come within sight, so that
might have the novel experience OF
taclrling them by moonlight.
, We had not long now to wait, for
] every moment the crashing of reeds
and branches as the huge animals
{ passed through became louder, till at
j last we could hear the splashing Ot
She water as they walked down the
stream, some collecting it in theiI
trunks, throwing it over their bodies
{ and blowing through their trunks with
a sharp, rafting sound. AS I took NJ
] my position on the bank in the shadow
e Of tent and trees, with my ten-bor,
Z rife at hand, and my double metford-
on to which had slipped the ename
= sight-on my knees, there enters tho
5 FIRST of a vast troop Of mighty crea
? lures. With my eyes fixed on the spo
/ among the moonlit reeds, whicl
Q stretched away like silver band be
= tween the somber forest, where tn,
B constant crushing and deep rumblins
y indicated the advance of the elephants
}, I marked the waving of the loft
s stems, among whose feathered head
= several black, sinuous objects, twist
i ing and twining about like grea
p snakes, were visible. Then from tn
7: stream bed rose a dark mass and stoo,
! on a high sandbank, a huge figure
Y deep black in the shadows, glistening
/, gray in the high lights, with two small
e points of white where the moonligh
L shone on the tusks. She was only al
e ordinary-sized COW, but in the spectra
t light she looked like a monster, stand
{ ing for some moments with trunk up
E lifted testing the air, then outstretch
{ ing it in front Of her she sounded
n low call, heard doubtless by every mem
I, Der of the troop, and simultaneously
{ all moved forward.
p The scene becomes grand beyon
D. words. One by one, and in compac
IL black and gray masses, the huge crea
n lures seem to glide into view, till tn
r, whole stream-bed is alive with thei
$ massive forms, and their gray shaG
6 oWs pass acrOss the open moonli