The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1901-10-19
THRILLING STORY
OF A LION HUNT.
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The brown, rugged rocks, devoid OF
vegetation and heated by centuries OF
tropical sunshine, breathed forth their
concentrated heat upon man and beast.
Between the barren foothills stretches
Of white sand blazed and shimmered,
while occasional eddies of furnace-heat-
ed, air came down from above and
raised spectral dust spouts, WHICH raced
along the desert until lost in the white
haze above the irregular line of horri-
ron Over all the remorseless sun gilt
tered and burned-burned as only the
midday sun can burn in the mecas OF
Western Somall Land, writes, in the
Chicago Inter Ocean, Art S. Jennings,
engineer for the De Beers Diamond
Company.
"Son Of my honored father!" cried
the Somal guide, who usually replen-
ished his stock of courage and endur-
snce (and egotism) by swearing by
\ himself, "this is most bad, Sahib Jen-
mig; will we ever reach the bad country
alye?"
"Yes, never fear" answered I, al
though my own supply of hope had been
rapidly diminishing. "As l live, l be-
lieye those are the Ka Dig el Mada! Ii
4 is 50, we will find fresh water and
green grass before tomorrow noon"
The caravan had stopped for brief
fest on the summit of one of the nil
merous small elevations, and as l spoke
pointed to the south, where the dim
outlines of two slender peaks were visi-
BE above the horizon; at the same time
II drew the field glass from its sheath
q my side and raised it to my eyes.
When the powerful lens brought almost
70 my very feet the country lying fifty
Or more miles distant, l involuntarily
uttered cry of joy. "They are the
Madas, for crtainty. for l can see the
ura-Nibo (clear water). Juno, we
shall soon be out of the desert!'
Allah il Allah" breathed the guide,
while the remainder of the Sona!s
iaced the sun and offered thankful pray
efs to the Deliverer for the welcome
news. Then followed renewed crack
'ng OF keddah whips, as the jaded pack
and saddle animals were urged over the
Ipugh ground.
lne expedition into the Karma coun-
~ had ended in dismal failure. Not
oniy had we failed to find the immense
deposits Of friable ore which the mana
ssr OF the De Beers Company (John
nays Hammond) had Believed were To-
eaeed there, but on the return trip Our
Somal guide had lost his bearings, and
- nearly week we had wandered
slniessly about the. semi-dcsert. Four
q our donkeys had died of "shagga"
l'ekness. and our supply of water was
Utmost exhausted.
AZ we slowly progressed toward the
.euth the soil became more and more
fnle, the desert being in time replaced
y 2 rolling, grassy plain. in which the
gV 0ee brush and scattered cacti gave
aee to mesquite and "dhero" bushes.
- before sunset we encamped near a
= wadi, which was caused by per-
ndissl spring, from which the water
sosed in ftful stream. By scraping a
sc u the hard soil we soon had pool
muddy water for the animals, and
ser 2 few minutes work with filter
80 Cleaned enough for our own use.
4 ihe night came on with usual tropi-
y swiftness, the gray dusk being re-
ed BY inky darkness. My men had
1A'ected enough dry wood to build a
phre, around which they now sat,
saeerfully eating their dates and rice.
sae starlight shone dimly on the long
scks and misshapcn backs of the CAM
and showed family the solitary,
.alte-clad figure of the sentry at he,
cod at the outskirts Of the camp,
oaang to himself mournful Mata-
e song. Soon they had finished eat
y and were stretched at full length |
out the FIRE, while the silence of the
ngle crept over ala silence broken
intervals by the melancholy cry OF
etal or the weird hown of a llysla,
nding as though they were miles ard
= away.
VAS rapidly passing into dreamiand !