Part 1 (1/2)
Adventures in Many Lands
by Various
I
A TERRIBLE ADVENTURE WITH HYENAS
There are hty hunters, andadventures personally undergone ild beasts; but probably none of the that which Arthur Spencer, the famous trapper, suffered in the wilds of Africa
As the right-handdealer in wild animals, for whom Spencer trapped some of the finest and rarest beasts ever seen in captivity, thrilling adventures were everyday occurrences to hierous than the hunter's, inasmuch as the latter hunts to kill, while the trapper hunts to capture, and the relative risks are not, therefore, coer of the wilds,”
as the spotted hyena is so so terrible that even he could not recollect it without shuddering
He was out with his party on an extended trapping expedition, and one day he chanced to get separated from his followers; and, partly overcoue, he lay down and fell asleep--about thea solitary traveller in the interior of Africa can do So to settle down in the west, he was aroused by the sound of laughter not far away
For the ht his followers had found hi his difficulties so coh repeated he realised at once that no huave utterance to quite such a sound; in fact, his trained ear told hihly awake, he sat up and saw a couple of the ugly brutes about fifty yards away on his left They were sniffing at the air, and calling He knew that they had scented him, but had not yet perceived him
In such a position, as sure a shot and one so well armed as Spencer was, a man who knew less about wild animals and their habits would doubtless have sent the two brutes to earth in double quick time, and thus destroyed himself But Spencer very well knew frouard of a pack The appearance of the pack, nuht To tackle the whole party was, of course, utterly out of the question; to escape by flight was equally out of the question, for hyenas are remarkably fast travellers
His only possible chance of escape, therefore, was to hoodwink the to be dead; for it is a characteristic of the hyena to reject flesh that is not putrid He threw hi the beasts would think hih dead, yet unfit for food It was an off-chance, and he well knew it; but there was nothing else to be done
In a couple of seconds the advance-guard saw hi to their fellows, rushed to him The pack answered the cry and instantly followed Spencer felt the brutes running over him, felt their foul breath on his neck, as they sniffed at hi; but he did not move One of them took a critical bite at his arm; but he did not stir They see, while e at finding hiony of suspense he waited motionless
Presently, to his amazement, he was lifted up by two hyenas, which fixed their teeth in his ankle and his wrist, and, acco between the hi him for a mo hi him to their retreat, there to devour him when he was in a fit condition He fully realised this, but he was powerless to defend himself from such a fate
How far they carried hi fro carried in such a manner, he fell into semi-consciousness from time to tiht was over the land and the sky sparkling with stars before the beasts finally halted; and then they dropped hi smell peculiar to hyenas, was the cavern hoht, surrounded by his captors, suffering acutely from his injuries, thirst, and the vile s broke he found that the pack had already gone out in search of e of two ih the day; for, unarmed as he was, and exhausted, he kneould be suicide to attempt to tackle his janitors He could only wait on chance Once or twice during the day the beasts tried hiust at the poor progress he wasapparently hungry, one of them deserted its post and went off, like the others, in search of food
This gave the wretchedof hope, for he knew that the hyena dislikes its own co beast would certainly desert if the pack reh But for hour after hour the ani farther than thebroke, however, the hyena grew very restless, going out and re away for brief periods But it always returned, and every tiined it had seen the pack returning, and that the worst was in store for hith, about noon, the brute went out and did not co toto tarry lest he shouldAfter about an hour of this suspense he crept to the ot upon his faltering feet, and hurried away as fast as his weakness would permit; but his condition was so deplorable that he had not covered a mile when he collapsed in a faint
Fortune, however, favours the brave; and although he fell where hediscovered, he was found the saave him food and drink (which he had not touched for two days), and helped hi a man of iron constitution, he made a rapid and coh still bear the marks of the hideous teeth which, but for his , to shreds
II
THE VEGA VERDE MINE
Jim Cayley cla in a tremendous appetite which he was soon to have the pleasure of satisfying