out from the fleecy clouds over our heads. I took advantage of every one of these brief moments of clear sky to survey the country about me, and to examine every clump of trees or fallen log; and it was in one of these short luminous intervals that all of a sudden I thought I saw the lion. I waited breathless till the moon came out again. Yes, it was he! standing motionless only a few paces from the camp.. 7. Accustomed to see fires lighted at every tent, to hear a hundred dogs barking in terror, and to see the men hurling lighted brands at him, he, without doubt, was at a loss to explain the rather suspicious silence that reigned around him. 8. While I was turning slowly round, in order to take better aim, without being seen by the animal, a cloud shut out the moon. I was seated with my left elbow on my knee, my rifle at my shoulder, watching, by turns, the lion, that I only recognized as a confused mass, and the passing cloud, the extent of which I anxiously contemplated. 9. At length it passed by; and the moonlight, dearer to me than the most beautiful sunshine, illumined the scene, and again showed me the lion, still standing in the same place. I saw him the better because he was so much raised above me; and he loomed up' proudly magnificent, standing as he was in majestic repose, with his head high in air, and his flowing mane undulating in the wind and falling to his knees. It was a black lion, of noble form and the largest size. As he presented his side to me, I aimed just behind his shoulder, and fired. 10. I heard a fierce roar of mingled pain and rage echoing up the hills with the report of my gun, and then from under the smoke I saw the lion bounding upon me. 11. Saadi, roused the second time that night from his slumbers, sprang to his gun, and was about to fire over my shoulder. With a motion of my arm I pushed aside the barrel of his gun, and when the beast, still roaring furiously, was within three steps of me, I fired my second barrel directly into his breast. 12. Before I could seize my companion's gun, the lion rolled at my feet, bathing them in the blood that gushed in torrents from his throat. He had fallen so near me that I could have touched him from where I stood. 13. In looking for the balls, I found the first one just behind the shoulder, where I had intended it to hit; but the second, that had been fired in haste, and almost at hazard, had given the mortal wound. From this moment I learned that it is not enough to aim correctly in order to kill a lion, and that it is a feat infinitely more serious than I had at first supposed. 14. It was a long while before the Arabs could believe that the lion was really dead, or venture into the presence of the fallen monarch of the forest. But when assured that their dread enemy, from whom they had suffered so much, could no longer harm them, they overwhelmed me with thanks and congratulations. 15. The men, with stately grace, kissed the hem of my garment, or my rifle that lay at my side, saying, “May God strengthen your arm and bless you." 16. The women kissed my hand, saying, "God bless the mother that bore you." The mothers lifted up their children in their arms, that they might touch me and kiss me, saying, "Don't be afraid; he only harms the lion; he is our friend and brother." 17. I can say, with all sincerity, that there were no voices So sweet as those which named my mother's name, that asked me her age, and when I had left her, if I ever heard from her now when far away, if I wanted to see her, and if she were ever coming to their country; and that ended their questions by invoking a thousand blessings on her honored head. 18. The death of the lion had truly been a blessing, since it summoned up to my mind such pleasant remembrances of a far-away home, and of a mother whom I so dearly loved. No sweeter praise could have been bestowed; no greater triumph could have been won. 1 CÖR'PO-RAL. A non-commissioned | 4 HỌ-RĪ'ZỌN. The line where the sky officer, the lowest in rank, in a company of soldiers. 2 CAR'BĪNE. A small gun, in size between a pistol and a musket, carried by cavalry. • Ō'VER-CAST. Covered with clouds. and earth appear to meet. 5 LÔÔMED UP. Stood up so as to be distinctly seen; appeared larger than reality. 6 UN'DU-LĀT-ING. Flowing; heaving as the waves of the sea move. XXXVI.—THE WHALE FISHERY. NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 1. THE method of taking the whale, as practised by all nations, and for every species, is nearly as follows:- The whale is compelled to come frequently to the surface, for the purpose of breathing. The nearest boat approaches from behind, from which the harpoon' is launched into the huge carcass. This it is almost impossible to disengage, it being provided with two strong barbs. 2. If not instantly killed, the whale sinks, and sinks often to a great depth. Exhausted by the immense superincumbent' pressure of the water, he sometimes comes up dead. Frequently he sinks only a short distance; but as soon as he rises, the whalemen endeavor to plunge into him the lance, an instrument of the finest steel, sharpened with the keenness of the surgeon's lancet. 3. Attached to the harpoon is a line, which, as the animal is disposed to sink or dash through the waves, is suffered to run loose around a small post in the stern of the boat; and it often flies with such rapidity that the harpooner is enveloped in smoke, and it frequently becomes necessary to pour on water, to prevent the friction of the rope on the post, from generating flame. 4. If the line becomes entangled while the whale is sinking, the boat sometimes rears one end aloft, and makes a majestic dive into the deep. In the contest the boat is sometimes dashed to shivers, and the men experience no pleasant immersion, if they are fortunate enough to escape without broken limbs. 5. The whale, stung with the fatal wound, sometimes dashes along the surface with a deathlike energy; and the little boat, almost under water, flies with the velocity of the wind. If he escape, he escapes with a prize on which he has no cause of congratulation; for he carries, deeply buried in his body, one or more of the sharp instruments, and drags off several hundred fathoms of rope. 6. Our whalemen have found irons in the carcass of a whale, known to have been planted there several years before, on another ocean. As the warp flies, it sometimes throws its coils around the body of a man, and dragging him over in a moment, carries him into the ocean depths, from which he never more emerges. Sometimes it only dislocates or breaks the legs and arms of the unfortunate men who become entangled in the folds. 7. A captain of a New London ship was caught by two coils of the warp, one around his body, and another around his leg. He had the presence of mind immediately to seize his knife, and after a while succeeded in cutting himself loose. He was carried, however, to a great depth, and when he returned to the surface, was almost exhausted. 8. The whale, when roused to desperation, makes an onset with his mouth only. Then he crushes a boat to atoms. A sperm whale once destroyed two boats of a Nantucket ship, and then attacked the ship; rushing with tremendous force against her side, he crushed in her planks, and thus made a breach from which she soon sunk. 9. The whaler sometimes roams for months without finding his prey; but he is buoyed up by the expectation of finally reaping the profits of a great voyage. To some minds the pursuit of such gigantic game has a tinge of the romantic. There must be a thrilling excitement in the adventurous chase. "The blood more stirs To rouse a lion than to start a hare." 10. Many become passionately attached to the business, notwithstanding its privations, and reluctantly leave it at last. They have moments of most pleasing anxiety, and meet with some incidents of the most enlivening cast. 11. On the south-east coast of Africa is Delego Bay, a calm, smooth place, frequented by vessels from various parts of the world. In this bay, a few years since,* a whale was observed almost equally distant from an American and an English ship. From both, the boats were lowered, manned, and pushed off in an instant. They sped with the velocity of the wind. The English, at first ahead, perceiving their rivals gaining on them, bore wide off to keep them out of reach of the whale. 12. When the two boats were nearly abreast, one of the American sailors leaped from his seat, and with extraordinary agility hurled the ponderous harpoon over the English boat. It struck the monster in the vital part; the English boat shrunk back under the warp; the waves were crimsoned with blood; and the American took possession, while the whole bay echoed and reëchoed with repeated shouts of applause. 1 HÄR-PÔÔN'. A lance with a long 2 shank, and a broad, triangular, flat head, sharpened at both ends. BARBS. Points turned backwards in strument for piercing, to prevent its being extracted. 3 SU-PER-IN-CUM'BENT. Lying over or upon. an arrow, fish hook, or other in- 4 ĢENER-AT-ING. Producing. *Written in 1834. |