188 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



A FRENCH OFFICER HUNTING LIONESSES. 



HE following narrative js 

 from the French Journal 

 des Chasseurs, to which it 

 was contributed by Mr, 

 Jules Gerard, as a remi- 

 niscence of his service in 

 Algeria : 



" I knew of a large old 

 lion in the Smauls coun- 

 try and betook myself in that direction. On arriving I heard that 

 he was in the Bonarif, near Batnah. My ten. "*- not yet pitched 

 at the foot of the mountain, when I learned that ^ "^s at the 

 Fed Jong, where, on my arrival, I found that he had gained the 

 Aures. After travelling one hundred leagues in ten days in the 

 trace of my brute without catching a glimpse of anything but his 

 foot-prints, I was gratified on the night of the 22d of August with 

 the sound of my lord's voice. I had established my tent in the 

 valley of Ousten. As there is only one patn across this thickly 

 covered valley, I found it an easy task to discover his track and 

 follow it to his lair. At six o'clock in the evening I alighted upon 

 a hillock commanding a prospect of the country around. I was 

 accompanied by a native of the country and my spahi, one carry- 

 ing my carbine, the other my old gun. As I had anticipated, the 



