66 IN BRIGHTEST AFRICA 
sat down on an ant-hill where I had a fair view. 
Kennedy fired and I looked quickly. The lion which 
had come out in front of Kennedy had turned and 
was running down across the ravine and up the other 
side. I hada good shot at him and the bullet knocked 
him over. However, he got up and went into a clump 
of bush. This clump just filled a kind of pot hole 
about fifty yards in diameter. Kennedy watched one 
side and I the other so that we had every avenue of 
escape covered. The beaters then began throwing 
stones and sticks into the bush. The lion made no 
move. He might be dead or he might be lying close. 
We wanted to know, but no one wanted to know suf- 
ficiently to crawl in and see. Finally Dudo, my 
gun-bearer, suggested that we light a fire and make 
some firebrands. We busied ourselves with this. In 
the meanwhile, there was no response from the lion. 
When the firebrands were ready Dudo asked leave to 
throw the first one for he maintained that he knew 
where the lion was. Dudo threw, and as his firebrand 
disappeared in the brush there was a roar and a shak- 
ing of the bushes that told exactly where the beast 
was hidden. A shower of firebrands followed but 
with no effect. Then the boys threw rocks. But 
nothing resulted. By this time Kennedy had joined 
the crowd. All the beaters and both of us were 
grouped on one side of the pot hole. Dudo now took 
a small-bore rifle and fired, not in an effort to kill 
the lion but to move him. It succeeded, and he 
moved, not away from us but toward us. The way 
of retreat was open but he didn’t take it. Dudo 
