MY FIRST EXPERIENCE IN LION HUNTING. 207 



ing so loud that the rocks and the trees were shaken. The 

 report of a second gun followed the first, then a third, and 

 then the voice of the lion was still. 



" On the following morning, all the natives from the neigh- 

 boring douars hastened up the mountain with the early light, 

 to find the blind where the hunter had been concealed, a 

 perfect wreck from top to bottom. Chackar's gun and pistol 

 and the body of the kid were buried under the ruin. In the 

 midst of the trunks of trees that formed the roof, and on the 

 stones were marks of blood and the print of huge claws ; 

 and the trail of a body that had been partly dragged and 

 partly carried, led into the woods. Following these tracks 

 for about twenty paces under the trees, the Arabs found the 

 second pistol, and then the body of the hunter and his prey 

 intertwined together like serpents. 



" The head of Chackar was concealed in the mouth of 

 the lion, and his left hand buried in his mane, while his right 

 hand held the hilt of a dagger which was driven to the guard 

 in the side of the animal. • 



"The three balls with which the Turk had loaded his 

 musket, had struck the lion in his side behind the shoulder, 

 the first pistol in the breast, and the third in the ear. 



" You see from this," continued the Arab, as he finished his 

 story, " that there is no shame in hiding oneself in a blind, 

 and I promise you that when you are alone in this place you 

 will think many a time of the fate of Chackar, and look to 

 see if your roof is strong and tight." 



What I would have liked, would have been to have met 

 the lion boldly face to face, by daylight, but I had not thought 



