310 AFRICAN NATURE NOTES chap. 



found that just beyond it there was a small patch 

 of unburnt grass quite six feet high, in which, no 

 doubt, he was hiding. To have approached this 

 patch of long grass across the open plain would, I 

 felt sure, have meant facing a fierce charge at close 

 quarters, for the wounded lion had shown every 

 sign of being a savage and determined animal. 



About two hundred yards to the left of the place 

 where the lion was lying was another ant-heap, at 

 the foot of which grew two good-sized trees, and 

 as I thought I might be able to see something from 

 the top of one of them, I went back to where I had 

 left my Kafirs, and taking one of them with me, 

 made a circuit and came up behind the trees. My 

 native attendant quickly climbed to the top of one of 

 them, but declared he could see nothing of the lion, 

 although he said that the patch of grass in which 

 it was lying was very small. He then began to 

 come down the tree again, talking all the time. 



He had got about half-way down when two wart- 

 hogs which had been lying asleep somewhere near 

 us, disturbed by his voice, got up and went trotting 

 straight towards the spot where the lion was lying. 

 They did not enter the grass, but passed close to it, 

 and the lion must have heard them coming and made 

 ready at once to repel another attack, for the Kafir 

 suddenly saw it standing just within the edge of 

 the grass. " Sir, sir, I can see the lion," he called 

 to me in his own language. " I can see nothing," I 

 answered. ''Come up the tree a little way," he 

 said, "and you will be able to see it." I told him 

 to come down low enough to reach the rifle I 

 handed to him, and then climbed into the lower 

 branches of the tree. When about ten feet above 

 the ground I could see the lion's head and the 

 outline of its back indistinctly through the grass. 

 First aroused by the near approach of the wart- 

 hogs, he was no doubt now listening to us talking. 



