I proposed to our gunner, that, seeing we had travelled now fourteen
days without intermission, and that we had water here for our
refreshment, and no want of food yet, nor any fear of it, we should rest
our people a little, and see, at the same time, if perhaps we might
kill some creatures that were proper for food. The gunner, who had more
forecast of that kind than I had, agreed to the proposal, and added, why
might we not try to catch some fish out of the lake? The first thing we
had before us was to try if we could make any hooks, and this indeed put
our artificer to his trumps; however, with some labour and difficulty,
he did it, and we catched fresh fish of several kinds. How they came
there, none but He that made the lake and all the world knows; for, to
be sure, no human hands ever put any in there, or pulled any out before.
We not only catched enough for our present refreshment, but we dried
several large fishes, of kinds which I cannot describe, in the sun, by
which we lengthened out our provision considerably; for the heat of
the sun dried them so effectually without salt that they were perfectly
cured, dry, and hard, in one day's time.
We rested ourselves here five days; during which time we had abundance
of pleasant adventures with the wild creatures, too many to relate. One
of them was very particular, which was a chase between a she-lion,
or lioness, and a large deer; and though the deer is naturally a very
nimble creature, and she flew by us like the wind, having, perhaps,
about 300 yards the start of the lion, yet we found the lion, by her
strength, and the goodness of her lungs, got ground of her. They passed
by us within about a quarter of a mile, and we had a view of them a
great way, when, having given them over, we were surprised, about an
hour after, to see them come thundering back again on the other side of
us, and then the lion was within thirty or forty yards of her; and both
straining to the extremity of their speed, when the deer, coming to the
lake, plunged into the water, and swam for her life, as she had before
run for it.
The lioness plunged in after her, and swam a little way, but came back
again; and when she was got upon the land she set up the most hideous
roar that ever I heard in my life, as if done in the rage of having lost
her prey.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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