WBHS_School_Magazine_1966 LR 01

STANDARD 48
A BREA THT AKING
EXPERIENCE
We were lying in our tent when suddenly there
was a loud noise nearby. "A lion," I said to my
friend, Howard. I grabbed my rifle and dashed
outside, but I was too late. The lion had gone.
The next morning Howard and I set off to find
the killer. As we walked along, a native came
staggering up. "Great chief," he said, "a lion
killed two people in my village last night. You
must kill him." Then I asked, "Can you send me
ten warriors?" He said "Yes", and soon we were
off again, prepared for any danger that lay in our
path.
That evening our search, having proved fruitless,
ended. We set up camp opposite a stream.
Late that night we heard a roar and a scream.
Howard grabbed his rifle and I did likewise. We
hurried outside. We shot at the lion, but missed.
We went after the lion but soon lost track of it.
We went back to bed.
In the morning we asked one of the warriors if
he could pick up the lion's track. He said he
would try and so saying we set off. Later the men
said that they had seen the lion heading towards
Python's Waterhole. We immediately changed
course and soon we reached our destination.
Upon arrival we were startled to see that the
killer was engaged in a fight with a twenty-foot
python. Eventually the lion was squeezed to
death. We shot the python.
When everything was over I said to Howard,
''That's one worry off our minds".
AN EXCITING
OUTING
L. SCHNEIDER.
Early one Sunday morning my father and I
went to the Simonstown Harbour. We had heard
that a salvage tug was leaving the harbour. My
father knew the captain of the tug and had
arranged for us to go aboard and watch the
divers salvage the wreck of a ship that had recently
sunk with a valuable cargo.
The weather was fine and at half past nine we
left the harbour and set out to sea. When we
were about fifteen miles out from the shore we
approached the site of the wreck. Two divers
were helped into thelr helmets and diving apparatus
by their crew. Soon they were lowered
over the side and they disappeared into the
depths. A few minutes later we heard by telephone
that they had found the wreck and were beginning
to get things ready for hoisting. Suddenly he
stopped talking. We called again but there was
no reply. We hoisted up the life-line, which contained
the telephone line, and found it had been
deliberately cut! Fortunately for the diver his
air-hose had not been cut. Now we just had to
call the other diver and he would rescue the first.
But the same thing had happened to him. There
must be someone who was cutting the divers'
lines. I asked if they had an aqua-lung which I
could borrow to see what had happened. They
agreed and I went over the side. I dived deeper
and deeper until I saw the two divers. Then suddenly
I saw an aqua-lung diver like myself. He
was the one who had cut the lines. I drew my
knife and cut the line from his aqua-lung to his
mouth. Gasping for air, he went straight back to
the surface. I tied two life-lines to the divers and
went up, back to the tug.
On board they hoisted up the divers and soon
we were all on deck. That was the end of a very
exciting outing.
M. BARKUSKY.
EXPLORATION OF THE SOUTH SEA
ISLAND OF PONGO
I, Prof. McDuff, and my two colleagues, Jim
Baxter and Ted Hawkins, eventually left New
York on the small vessel, the "Explorer", on the
27th February, 1965. We were bound for the
South Pacific but had to stop at Panama due to
engine trouble.
I continue my story on the 2nd March. It was
6.30 a.m. and we were sailing through the Canal
after having repaired our engine. On the morning
of the next day we had travelled two hundred
miles, still 2,000 miles from our destination. After
another ten days we spotted Panga, the island of
our final destination.
On the shore was Terry White, another of my
friends. He was the only white on the island inhabited
by Pangalians.
Our task was to explore for rubies. One had
already been found in the Bundie River by one
of the natives. It was a ruby of considerable
value and size. The river is not a big one. It is
about five miles long and at its widest point thirty
yards wide.
After settling into our small hut we began to
question the native about the finding of the ruby.
In reply he answered, "On rocks, in river, bad
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