Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1901-08-31
Thrilling Story Of a
Lion Hunt.

vegetation and heated by centuries Of
tropical sunshine, brcathcd forth their
concentrated heat Upon man and beast.
Between the barren foothills stretches
Of white sand blazcd and shimmcred,
while occasional cddics of furnace heat
cd air came down from above and
raised spectral dust spouts, which raced
along the desert until lost i'll the white
haze above the irregular line OF horri-
CON. Over all the remorscless sun gilt
tered and burncd-burncd as only the
midday sun can burn i'll the mccas of
Western Somal Land. writes. in the
Chicago intcr Ocean, Art S. Jennings.
engineer for the De Beers Diamond
Company.
''Son OF my honorcd fatlicr!' cried
the Somal guide, who usually replen-
ishcd his stock of courage and endur-
ancc (ard cgotism) by swearing by
himself. this is most bad. Sahb Jen-
rig; will VIC ever reach the bad country
alive?'
eyes. never fear" answered I. al
though my own supply of hope had been
rapidly diminishing. AS live. be-
licve those arc the Ma Dig eli MAZDA II
Il is so, we will find fresh water and
green grass before tomorrow noon."
The caravan had stopped for brief
rest on the summit of one OF tho MT
nerous small elevations, and as l spoke
7. pointed to the south, where the dim
outlines OF two slender peaks were visi-
Die above the horizon; at the same time
drew the field glass from its sheath
1t my side and raised ii to my eyes.
When the powerful lens brought almost
b my very feet the country lying fifty
Or moro miles distant, l Involuntary
uttered cry Of joy. "Thcy are the
Midas. for crtainty. for I can see the
Cra-Nibo (clear water). Juno, we
shall soon be out of the desertv
ALLAH il Allah" brcathcd the guide,
while the remainder of the Somals
faced the sun and offered thankful pray
ers to the lriivcrcr for the welcome
news. Then followed a renewed crack
ing Of kcddal, whips. as the jadcd pack
and saddle animals were urged over the
rough ground.
The expedition into the Karma coun.
try had ended in dismal failure. Not
only had we failed to find the immense
deposits OF friablc ore which the mana
ger OF the De Beers Company John
Hays Hammond) had believed were To-
Gated there. but OF the return trip our
Somal guide had lost his bearings, and
tor nearly week VIC had wandered
ainlcssly about the semi-dcsert. Four
OF our donkeys had died of "slagga"
thickness, and our supply OF water was
almost exhausted.
As We slowly progressed toward the
south the soil became more and more
fertile, the desert being in time replaced
by rolling, grassy plain. in which the
gray sage brush and scattered tacti gave
place to mesquite and 'dhcro" bushes.
Just before sunset we cncamped near a
small wadi, which was caused by a per-
iodical spring. from which the water
oozcd in fitful stream. By scraping a
hole in the hard soil we soon had a pool
of muddy water for the animals, and
after few minutes work with a filter
had cleaned enough for our own use.
The night came on with usual tropi-
cal swiftness, the gray dusk being re-
placed by inky darkness. Ny men had
collected enough dry wood to build a
campfire, around which they now sat
eheerfully eating their dates and rice
The starlight shonc dimly on the long
nccks and misshapcn backs of the cam
els, and showed family the solitary
wl'lte-clad figure OF the sentry at he
stood at the outskirts OF the camp
grooming to himself a mourniul Mata.
belle song. Soon they had finished eat.
ing and were stretched at full length
about the fire, while the silence OF the
jungle crep, over ala silence broker
at intervals by the melancholy cry OF ;
Jackal or the weird hown of a hyena
sounding as though they were miles anc
miles away.
u was rapidly passing into dreamlanc
when, following a period OF intense 81
ience, came far-away deep moann.
sound. While by no means loud o.
startling, it brought me wide awake an,
sitting upright on my cot, my nerve
tingled with excitement; il was tn,
awakening roar OF a lion!
Excited voices from the direction o
the campfire indicated my men hac
heard the ominous sound and were wild
awake in consequence; a moment late
! could hear them piling dry bushwoo,
on the slumbering Goals The deep
Tumbling roars were repeated at inter
sails, apparently growing nearer an,
dying away in the same moaning note
Finally an interminable time elapsed
creepy silence, in which the men hud
died about the blazing campfire. Sud
Only there was the sound OF a brute
heavy gallop over the sand between tn
wadi and our camp, a mighty roar fol
lowed by a thud, as donkey was felle
20 the ground, while his dying bray ran
out piteously on the night air; sligh
noise OF struggle few more sthe
brays--and then silence, followed me
ment later by the sound OF heavy bod
being dragged across the sand.
After the first shock OF excitement,
had gra.ped my rife and run towar
ts,e men. When the lion began to ORA