32 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. ir 



looking at me, only about eighty yards off", and 

 off'ering a magnificent shot, but before I could make 

 ready, he was off" after the others. As the sun was 

 now down, and I had no dogs, I did not like to 

 follow them into the thick bush, and so gave them 

 up, a good deal disappointed with the result of my 

 first encounter with lions. 



As I had seen a great deal of lion spoor at the 

 water, I took my blanket when it got dark and lay 

 by the river close to the drinking-place, but though, 

 during the night, I heard some distant roaring, none 

 came near the water ; this was perhaps lucky for me, 

 for, with the foolhardiness of inexperience, I had 

 made no shelter of any kind, but just sat with my 

 back against a small thorn tree. Near the Goqui we 

 first saw a large baobab tree. On our way from here 

 to the Tati gold-fields, we saw nothing remarkable ; 

 we crossed the rivers Macloutsi and Shashi, and at 

 the former first saw rhinoceros spoor, but failed to 

 get a view of the animals themselves. At length we 

 reached Tati, where, at the time of my first visit, 

 there were six or seven Englishmen, only two of 

 whom had anything to do with the mine. A small 

 engine about a mile down the river was driving a 

 crushing-machine belonging to Sir John Swinburne. 

 The shaft from which the quartz was being extracted 

 is called the Blue Jacket, and was an old native 

 digging (probably Mashuna). This shaft must be 

 very old. It was accidentally discovered by some 

 men while prospecting, who, after having dug away 

 about a foot of the surface soil, came upon a large 

 stone which they found was fitted into the entrance 

 of what is now the Blue Jacket shaft, about loo feet 

 in depth : a wonderful work for the Mashuna, but 

 there is no one else to whom to attribute it. 



