Might well be called a dunce;
But you in knowledge quick must grow,
For youth can come but once.
SCENES IN THE LIFE OF MR. LOVESPORT.
Scene I.
Mr. Lovesport has left his native land in search of larger game, and more adventurous and dangerous sport than he can find in England. One day in southern Africa he has cautiously approached a herd of antelopes, and is just within the distance for a shot, when he observes a sudden commotion among them, some bounding one way, some another, as if in terror. Looking round to discover the cause, he finds himself face to face with an enormous lion. The lion pauses to consider whether he will have an antelope for dinner or Mr. Lovesport. Our intrepid hunter takes advantage of the pause to shoot him through the heart.
Scene II.
This is the way Mr. Lovesport once rode a Quagga. It is a kind of zebra, or wild ass, and is considered untameable. A friend of Mr. Lovesport—a colonist in southern Africa—had caught one, and had tried in vain to tame it. Our hunter offered to ride it, if they could put on saddle and bridle. This was at length accomplished: he mounted, and the quagga galloped away, away till he reached a herd of his own species, who all came round, curious to know what thing he had upon his back. Our hero became anxious to return, and, taking off his jacket, contrived to wrap it over the eyes of the beast; then once getting its head in the right direction, spurred it on, till it stopped exhausted at his friend’s door.