190 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



not been baited and does not feel that it is cornered. But, 

 of course, as the hunter is on the ground, perhaps seventy or 

 eighty yards from the Hon, it behooves him to use straight 

 powder. 



Riding Hons, as it is termed — that is, running them on 

 horseback until they turn to bay, and then shooting them 

 on foot — is a more exhilarating, a less fatiguing, and, on the 

 whole, a more dangerous sport. Usually two or more 

 mounted hunters go out together. They may spy a lion in 

 the open, or they may rouse him from his day lair. In 

 either event, they run him hard over the open plains until he 

 comes to bay — either on the bare open or in a bush. When 

 he is thus brought to bay he is far more apt to charge than 

 is the case with an unwounded lion shot by a man on foot. 

 In any such case, and of course especially in the case of a 

 wounded lion or of one suddenly surprised at very close 

 quarters, if the lion is approached too close it may charge 

 without any warning. If a man on horseback gallops too 

 close behind a fleeing lion, it may whip round and charge 

 him without a moment's pause. But when brought to bay, 

 and when the hunter is some distance off, the lion usually 

 spends some little time in threatening and in working itself 

 up to the final pitch of fury. It stands erect, the head held 

 lower than the shoulders, the tail lashing from side to side, 

 and all the time it growls hoarsely, the lips drawn down 

 over the teeth like those of an angry bear, or, more rarely, 

 drawn back in a prodigious snarl. When just on the point 

 of charging, the tail is usually thrown stiffly up two or three 

 times, and if it changes its course during the charge the tail 

 is slued to one side like a rudder. The animal may break 

 into a gallop at once, or it may begin by trotting with the 



