230 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



ot her run. Feeling sure that she would charge 

 again as soon as she recovered her breath, I steadied 

 myself and fired from the saddle, but missed her. 

 She never took the slightest notice of the shot, but 

 continued snarling and growling. Resting the butt 

 ot my rifle (a single ten-bore muzzle-loader) on my 

 toot, I now reloaded with all expedition, and fired 

 again, the lioness all this time having preserved the 

 same position, standing exactly facing me. This 

 time I struck her right in the mouth, knocking out 

 one of the lower canine teeth, breaking the lower 

 jaw-bone, and injuring her neck. She fell to the 

 shot instantly, and lay quite still. I thought she 

 was dead, but took the precaution to reload before 

 riding up to her. On dismounting and walking 

 towards her, she raised herself on her fore-quarters, 

 when I gave her a ball in the shoulder which effect- 

 ually settled her. Dorehill now came up with the 

 Kafirs. He had seen the other lions, a male and 

 two females, for there were five altogether, but they 

 had given him the slip in a patch of thick bush. 

 We now went to look for the one I had first 

 wounded, but though there was a little blood under 

 the bush where she had been lying, we could discover 

 no further trace of her, and the ground being very 

 hard no sign of her spoor was visible, even to the 

 keen eyes of the Bushmen. So, after skinning the 

 one I had killed, which was in beautiful condition, 

 we returned to the waggons. A few days later, on 

 December iith, we reached the Tati, where we met 

 with a warm welcome from Mr. Brown, the hospit- 

 able trader, so well known for his kindness and 

 courtesy to all who have travelled in the interior of 

 South Africa. Here I found a bundle of letters 

 trom home — the first I had received since leaving 



