42 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



oxen, which were all made fast to the yokes, whilst 

 on the other side of them I had lighted two large 

 fires. Hearing a disturbance in the night I got out 

 of the waggon, and, sitting on the fore-case, called 

 out to my driver to know what was the matter. 

 " It's a lion," he answered, and came up to tell me 

 about it. He had just reached the disselboom when, 

 with a growl, a lion sprang up from close to the 

 wheel and jumped over the low hedge, followed by 

 a puppy I had, barking vigorously. We soon heard 

 the lion chasing the dog and growling savagely, and 

 the next instant my cur came rushing back with his 

 tail between his legs. I fired shots after the lion, 

 and that night we were no more troubled. Next 

 morning we found by the spoor that our visitor had 

 crept from behind the waggon up to the fore wheel, 

 where he was doubtless lying, looking for a fat ox, 

 when I got on to the fore-case. 



Two days later, at the river Sebakwe, we found 

 a large encampment of Boer hunters, and among 

 them old Petrus Jacobs, the most experienced 

 elephant-hunter in South Africa. Eight days before, 

 this old Nimrod, who has probably shot more lions 

 than any man that ever lived, had been terribly 

 mauled by one of these animals, and was lying in a 

 very precarious state. It appears that, being away 

 hunting on the other side of the Umniati river, he 

 was sitting in the shade of his waggon, when his 

 daughter-in-lavv', the only other person there, called 

 out " Kek, om Piet, kek, daar kom en vark af naar 

 de water to " (Look, uncle Peter, look, there comes 

 a pig down to the water). Uncle Peter jumped up, 

 and saying, " That's no pig, my child ; it's a lion 

 stalking the horses," seized his rifle, and, followed 

 by three splendid dogs, ran down to drive the 



