XI 1 THE LION ESCAPES 263 



thought he meditated an attack. Very likely he didn't, 

 but he really looked uncommonly disagreeable, and I 

 was sitting in a cramped and awkward position to 

 receive a charge, so, taking as good an aim as I could 

 for the centre of his head, I fired. With a loud 

 grunt he stood up on his hind legs and rolled over 

 backwards, and for some seconds lay still. Before I 

 could get another cartridge in, however, he regained 

 his feet and made off after the other two (a lioness 

 and a nearly full-grown cub), that we now saw rise 

 from under a bush some 200 yards off. Miller 

 did not fire until the lion had regained his legs, 

 letting slip the golden opportunity when his ideas 

 were deranged by my shot, and missing him, unfor- 

 tunately, when he did fire. We now took up his 

 spoor on foot. At first there was only a little blood, 

 but after a bit the blotches became larger and more 

 frequent, and seemed to be thrown from his mouth. 

 I feel sure that I hit him right in the face, and fancy 

 the bullet must have glanced from his lower jaw-bone, 

 which in a lion is very solid. To make a long story 

 short, we followed the spoor for several miles, and 

 at last, as it appeared evident that the lion had not 

 received a mortal wound, gave it up. I would have 

 held on longer, but my bad leg became very painhil,' 

 and the bush was in most parts too thick to follow a 

 wounded lion on horseback ; so I at length returned 

 to the waggon even more mortified at the loss of this 

 lion than I was at that of the gemsbuck on the previous 

 day. I have now made a skerm round the dead 

 horse, and this evening shall set a gun, and then trek 

 on about a mile and await the result ; but, successful 



1 I had hurt my lc<,^ badly about a fortnight previously in a fall from 

 my horse whilst chasing a giraffe, cracking the tibia so that some ot the 

 serum ran out, and formed a lunip on tlie bone. 



