THE LION. 125 



to insure the destruction of this ravenous monster. This plan was to enter the dense kloof on 

 foot, without dogs, and to endeavor by fair stalking to obtain his shot at the Lion. 



"Now, when we consider the difficulty of moving through any cover without making a 

 noise, and also the watchful habits of every member of the feline race, we may be certain that 

 to surprise the Lion was a matter of extreme difficulty, and that the probability was that the 

 Dutchman would meet with a disaster. 



"At about ten o'clock on the morning after the horse slaughter, the Boer started for the 

 kloof, armed with a double-barrelled smooth bore, and clothed in the most approved bush 

 costume. He would not allow his faithful Hottentot to accompany him, because, as success 

 mainly depended upon surprise, he considered that the highly flavored Totty might be scented 

 by the Lion ; whereas he alone would be more likely to escape detection. By this arrange- 

 ment the Boer demonstrated the truth of the proverb with reference to the pot and the kettle, 

 for the Dutchmen are not fonder of lavations than their Hottentot servants, and it is probable 

 that, although a wide-awake Lion might have scented the Totty at 600 yards down wind, he 

 would have discovered the Boer under similar conditions at 400 yards. We must, however, 

 take the Boer's reason as a just one, and conclude that to leave his Totty at home was a wise 

 precaution. 



"On the first occasion, when the Lion was attacked by the Boer, it had been bayed by 

 the dogs near some tall trees, far down in the kloof. If the animal had again selected the 

 same location, the Boer would have had to creep through two or three hundred yards of 

 thorny bush, and lie would probably have alarmed the Lion long before he arrived within shot. 

 He had thought over this, and had concluded that after dragging the carcass of the horse all 

 the way from the farm, the Lion would not be disposed to drag it very far through the under- 

 wood in the kloof, and that, therefore, he should find the carcass of the horse at least at no 

 great distance from the edge of the ravine, and probably the Lion close to it. 



"Now it is the nature of the Lion, when gorged, to sleep during the day; and if the 

 animal has carried off any prey, it usually conceals itself near the remains to watch them until 

 it is ready for another feast. 



"The Boer was aware of all this, and had laid his plans very judiciously. He approached" 

 the kloof slowly and silently, hit off the spoor of the Lion, and traced the spot where the 

 horse had been allowed to remain on the ground for a short time. 



"Although he moved onwards very slowly and with great caution, he was soon surrounded 

 by the bush ; and the brightness of the plain was succeeded by the gloom of the kloof. Being 

 a most experienced hand at bushcraft, he was enabled to walk or crawl without causing either 

 a dried stick to crack or a leaf to rustle, and he was aware that his progress had been accom- 

 plished without noise ; for the small birds, usually so watchful and so much on the alert, flew 

 away only when he approached close to them, thus showing that their eyes and not their ears 

 had made them conscious of the presence of man. 



" Birds and monkeys are the great obstacles in the bush to the success of a surprise, for 

 the birds fly from tree to tree, and whistle or twitter, whilst the monkeys chatter and grimace, 

 and express, by all sorts of harlequin movements, that some curious creature is approaching. 

 When, therefore, the bushranger finds that birds and monkeys are unconscious of his presence 

 until they see him, he may be satisfied that he has traversed the bush with tolerable silence, 

 and has vanquished such formidable obstacles as sticks hidden by leaves, broken and dead 

 branches, etc. 



" There is a vast difference between hearing or reading how any dangerous work has been 

 accomplished, and doing that work itself. But we can, by imagining ourselves in the position 

 of the performer, realize in a measure the sort of sensations which he must have experienced, 

 and we can then weigh the effect which the circumstance would have produced upon our own 

 moderately strong nerves. It is highly probable that those who sigh for new sensations, might 

 possibly find them were they to enter a dense bush on foot, and expect momentarily to meet, 

 within speaking distance, a Lion of capacious maw, or a long-tusked, heavy-footed elephant, 

 or even such a moderate opponent as a bull buffalo. 



"The effect produced upon the system is much decreased when many individuals are 



