444 The Hunting Grounds 



PART III.-ALGERIA. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



A SPORTING RECONNAISSANCE IN ALGERIA. 



The origin of the Expedition. The start. Paris. Difficulty 

 about the importation of gunpowder. A ruse. Marseilles. 

 The voyage. Stora. Bone. French hospitality. Lake 

 Fedzara. Ain-Mokra. Convivial evening. Songs. The 

 trail of a Hon. Small-game shooting. Lions afoot. 

 Night-watching. Uncomfortable position. The lion again. 

 His cnrrishness. Preparations for a trip inland. 

 Philippeville. Eoman remains. The kindness of the 

 French authorities. Our journey. A strange Jehu. Con- 

 stantine. The game of Algeria. 



THE origin of this Expedition was as follows : 

 Monsieur Jules Gerard of the French army, 

 the celebrated " Tueur des Leons" having formed the 

 nucleus of the Algerian Sporting Club (in which are 

 to be found the names of most of the sporting noble- 

 men and gentry in France), kindly sent me a pro- 

 spectus, and I thought it was a pity that the British 

 public should not be aware of the splendid field for 

 sport of all kinds that was within four days' journey 

 of their shores. Although I considered that the 



