The Lion 129 



should be advised by my nose of the position of the car- 

 cass, which would be by this time in a state of putrefac- 

 tion, and the lions would most probably be with the body. 



" Accordingly, I struck off to my left, and continuing 

 straight forward for some hundred yards, again struck into 

 the thick jungle, and came round to the wind. Success 

 depended on extreme caution, therefore I advised my three 

 men to keep close behind me with the spare rifles, and I 

 carried my single-barrelled Beattie. This rifle was ex- 

 tremely accurate, and for that reason I chose it for this 

 close work, when I expected to get a shot at the eye or 

 the forehead of a lion crouching in the bush. Softly, and 

 with difficulty, I crept forward, followed closely by my 

 men, through the high withered grass beneath the dense 

 green nabbuk bushes, peering through the thick covert 

 with nerves strung to the full pitch and finger on the 

 trigger, ready for any emergency. We had thus advanced 

 for about half an hour, during which I frequently applied 

 my nose to within a foot of the ground to catch the scent, 

 when a sudden puff of wind brought the unmistakable 

 smell of decomposing flesh. For a moment I halted, and 

 looking round at my men, made a sign that we were near 

 the carcass, and that they were to be ready with the rifles. 



" Again I crept forward, bending and sometimes crawl- 

 ing beneath the thorns, to avoid the smallest noise. As 

 I approached, the scent became stronger, until at length I 

 felt that I must be close to the carcass. This was highly 

 exciting. Fully prepared for a quick shot, I stealthily 

 crept on. A tremendous roar in the dense thorns within 

 a few feet of me suddenly brought the rifle to my shoulder ; 



K 



