A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder James De Mille

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claws and his curved horn and his wide jaws he dealt death and
destruction all around; yet still the assailants kept at their work.
Many leaped down to the ground and rushed close up to the monster,
thrusting their lances into the softer and more unprotected parts
of his body; while others, guiding their birds with marvellous
dexterity, assailed him on all sides. The birds, too, were kept well
to their work; nor did they exhibit any fear. It was not until they
were wounded that they sought to fly. Still, the contest seemed too
unequal. The sacrifice of life was horrible. I saw men and birds
literally torn to pieces before my eyes. Nevertheless, the utter
fearlessness of the assailants confounded me. In spite of the
slaughter, fresh crowds rushed on. They clambered over his back, and
strove to drive their lances under his bony cuirass. In the midst of
them I saw the Kohen. By some means he had reached the animal's back,
and was crawling along, holding by the coarse shaggy mane. At length
he stopped, and with a sudden effort thrust his lance into the
monster's eye. The vast beast gave a low and terrible howl; his
immense tail went flying all about; in his pain he rolled over and
over, crushing underneath him in his awful struggles all who were
nearest. I could no longer be inactive. I raised my rifle, and as the
beast in his writhings exposed his belly I took aim at the soft flesh
just inside his left fore-leg, and fired both barrels.
At that instant my bird gave a wild, shrill scream and a vast bound
into the air, and then away it went like the wind--away, I know not
where. That first bound had nearly jerked me off; but I managed to
avoid this and now instinctively clung with all my might to the bird's
neck, still holding my rifle. The speed of the bird was twice as great
as it had been before--as the speed of a runaway horse surpasses
that of the same horse when trotting at his ordinary rate and under
control. I could scarcely make out where I was going. Rocks, hills,
swamps, fields, trees, sand, and sea all seemed to flash past in one
confused assemblage, and the only thought in my mind was that I was
being carried to some remote wilderness, to be flung there bruised and
maimed among the rocks, to perish helplessly. Every moment I expected
to be thrown, for the progress of the bird was not only inconceivably
swift, but it also gave immense leaps into the air; and it was only
its easy mode of lighting on the ground after each leap that saved me
from being hurled off. As it was, however, I clung instinctively to
the bird's neck, until at last it came to a stop so suddenly that my
hands slipped, and I fell to the ground.