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his approach known. Should a caravan happen to be near the spot, it is impossible to keep the camels together, they leap about in all directions, and are scattered abroad under the influence of fear. I myself once had the opportunity of witnessing a scene of this kind. On arriving in my travels at the wells of Semmeria, we suddenly heard a murmuring noise afar, resembling the rolling of balls in an empty barrel ; but we were soon acquainted with its true cause when it gradually increased to that terrible thunder-like roar. With the first perception of this noise, the camels belonging to our caravan suddenly took fright, and instantly separated in all directions. The men and the cases were thrown off*, and if one of the riders happened to keep his seat at the first alarm, he was subsequently necessitated to leap down, to avoid being felled by the branches of the trees ; for we were unfortunately near a forest of mimosas, and every one was in danger of being torn by their large spines.

This confusion, however, did not last long, for the lion took quite an opposite direction to the route of our caravan ; but a whole day was lost in collecting the goods that had been thrown off", or torn down by the trees, and one of the camels strayed to a great distance. Lions are seldom hunted in this country ; for there are very few of them, as I have beforementioned, and they do so little damage that it would not be worth while to incur the danger attending the sport. The flesh of the lord of the