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ALARM OCCASIONED BY TWO LIONS. 45 
Negro for an ass, for which I paid him forty-two beads of 
coral, of the vahie of about five francs, 
It may easily be imagined that after passing such a day as 
this I was not a little fatigued. I stood in need of sleep, but 
it was decreed that I should not enjoy perfect repose in the 
village of Coqué. About the middle of the night I was sud- 
denly startled out of my sleep by the roaring of two lions, 
which were prowling about the village to seize an ox or a sheep. 
It was the first time I had heard this signal of carnage, I confess 
it made me shudder, and my companions were equally alarmed. 
The door of every hut was closed, mothers called in their chil- 
dren ; the men heard in gloomy silence the voice of these ter- 
rible animals which kept advancing. The dismay was general, 
nevertheless, some armed themselves, The dogs howled, they 
durst not ho we ver leap over the hedges which enclosed the courts. 
The oxen lowed, but their lowing was frequently interrupted by 
fear at every roar of the lion. The asses, the horses, in short 
every animal answered but in doleful accents the horrid roar- 
ing which they heard. Whether the lions carried off some 
victim into the recesses of the forests, or whether they retired 
without committing any havoc, we ceased to hear them, and 
the consternation which they had spread subsided. As for me 
a thousand dismal reflections disturbed my slumbers, when I 
considered, that during my journey I should often have to 
encounter such enemies. When the danger was over, courage 
revived, and each boasted of his prowess, as usual in such 
