THE LION 189 



long grass in which they have been lying. Often, moreover, 

 especially just after sunrise or before sunset, alert and ener- 

 getic hunters will stumble on them by accident or run across 

 them when they are just ending or beginning their night 

 rambles. There is luck in all hunting; but more in lion hunt- 

 ing without dogs than in the chase of any other big animal 

 of the regions where it dwells, for the lion is far harder to 

 find and see than any of the big grass-eaters that live under 

 similar conditions. One man may never see a lion in a year's 

 hunting; another in the same time may come across a couple 

 of score. 



In both tracking and driving the hunter is, of course, on 

 foot. Tracking can only occasionally be employed with 

 lions, as their spoor is so much more difficult to follow than 

 that of hoofed animals, and as they are experts at hiding and 

 skulking. But it can occasionally be employed in the early 

 morning when the dew is heavy on the grass ; and in long 

 grass it often pays to follow a band of lions for some time, 

 as they make fairly distinct trails, and frequently move 

 slowly off before the hunter, grunting now and then. A 

 shot at an unwounded animal under these conditions is 

 not very dangerous, for the animal has not been harassed or 

 injured, and rarely charges until hit; while the shot is usu- 

 ally taken at a distance that ought to enable the shooter 

 to kill or cripple his game. Driving is followed in the usual 

 fashion; a rocky hill, a valley of long grass, a reed bed, a 

 fringe of trees, or a patch of scrub being beaten through by 

 a line of shouting natives. The lion rarely charges back at 

 the beaters, although it is always well to have a man with a 

 rifle accompany them. The hunter himself in these cases 

 is very rarely charged before shooting, for the lion has 



