MY ACQUAINTANCE WITH LIONS — 65 
which ran some distance and ended in a thick piece 
of forest. The sides of the ravine were covered with 
clumps of thick bush. Into one of these I felt sure 
the lion had retreated. Unless closely pushed he 
would not go into the forest. My plan was to enter 
the ravine the next day at the forest end so that he 
could not escape to safety among the trees, and drive 
up the ravine to force him out into the open. 
When we got to the edge of the forest the next 
morning Kennedy and I drew lots for the choice of 
position. He won and chose the upper end of the 
ravine toward which we were to drive, while I was 
to follow up behind the beaters to get him if he broke 
back. Of course we were not sure that our quarry 
was even in the neighbourhood, but I had great hope 
of everything except getting this first black-maned 
specimen myself, for Kennedy’s position made it 
almost certain that he would get the animal if any 
one did. The first patch of bush that the beaters 
tackled was about 100 yards long and 50 yards wide. 
As they set up their usual racket before entering I 
thought I heard a lion’s grunt, but as nothing more 
developed I concluded it had been merely some of 
the boys. This patch of bush was a mass of nettles, 
briers, and thorns, and made exceedingly disagreeable 
going. The porters were making very slow progress, 
so I went in to encourage them. However, by the 
time we were halfway through I was so scratched and 
torn that I quit and went out toward the bottom of 
the ravine. The briers had somewhat cooled my 
faith in the theory that the lion was in the ravine. I 
