^\lth Flashlight and Rifle -^ 



camp have l)een preyed upon In' lions in spite of tlieir 

 ha\in_o- their camp-fires lit — though possibly gone clown 

 somewhat and only smouldering — while m\- own camj) 

 was left unmolested. 



Lions have, however, sometimes ap|)roached within 

 three or four paces ot my camp, and e\en of my own 

 tent. One dark night a large male lion nearly brushed 

 against my tent on its way down to the stream by which 

 it stood. He could have got to the water, either to the 

 right or to the left, without finding any obstacle in his 

 path. After drinking he returned the same way to the 

 velt, and some twenty paces from my tent he stopped 

 to inspect carefully a large bone, whitened by the sun, 

 which had been lying there some time. This was 

 ascertained next morning from his tracks. I set out 

 after him next morning, but had to break oft' my pursuit 

 atter about tour hours ot it, as he had turned aside on 

 to a stony part ot the velt, where his tracks could not 

 be discerned. 



The same indifi'erence is shown by lions during the 

 night-shoots. They pay no attention to the hunter 

 waiting inside the tliorndjush when they are making for 

 the ass or steer tied up as a bait tor them three or four 

 paces oft, and they can be shot therefore quite easilw 

 r>om my own observations — made at night time, while 

 I was engaged in i)hotographing the animals — the lion 

 does not make a great spring upon his prey, but creeps 

 up towards it, stretching out its mighty bod)', antl then 

 is ujjon it like a lightning llash and kills it with a bite 

 on the back ol the neck. 



