XII MEET A LION 249 



in my path, with his eyes intently fixed upon the 

 advancing horse, and I did not stop to ascertain his 

 intentions, but the instant I saw him pulled in and 

 dismounted. As I lifted my rifle he just raised his 

 head about six inches. Fear that he would bound 

 away made me fire rather hurriedly ; but the roar 

 that instantly followed the shot let me know that 

 he had got the bullet somewhere. Owing to the 

 dampness of the air, the smoke hung in such a 

 manner that for several seconds I could see nothing 

 of the lion, which kept up a loud and continuous 

 roaring. But as it cleared off I saw him tumbling 

 about on his head, with his right fore-leg swinging 

 in the air. Before I could get another cartridge 

 in my rifle, however, he recovered from the shock 

 he had received, and shambled ofi-' into the thick 

 wait-a-bit thorn bushes that skirted a deep gully 

 just behind the old kraal. 1 must confess that I 

 did not like exactly following him into this low 

 thorny scrub, where one could not see ten yards 

 ahead, alone and without dogs ; but, at the same 

 time, I longed to possess his hide, and, moreover, 

 thought 1 had given him a deadly wound, for as his 

 fore-arm swung loose from the shoulder, I knew, 

 from the position in which he was lying when I fired, 

 that my bullet must just have grazed past his cheek, 

 struck him on the point of the shoulder, and then, 

 as I imagined, raked him, passing in all probability 

 through one of his lungs. Leading my horse by 

 the bridle, I now took the blood spoor, which 

 followed the waggon-road into the gully, down 

 whose bed it then turned towards the river, which 

 was less than one hundred yards distant. The 

 opposite bank of this gully being steep and high, 

 I thought I should stand a better chance ot seeing 



