142 THE LION. 
detection. By this arrangement the Boer demonstrated the truth of the proverb with 
reference to the pot and the kettle, for the Dutchmen are not fonder of lavations than 
their Hottentot servants, and it is probable that, although a wide-awake Lion might have 
scented the Totty at 600 yards down wind, he would have discovered the Boer under 
similar conditions at 400 yards. We must, however, take the Boer’s reason as a just one, 
and conclude that to leave his Totty at home was a wise precaution. 
On the first occasion, when the Lion was attacked by the Boer, it had been bayed by 
the dogs near some tall trees, far down in the kloof. If the animal had again selected 
the same location, the Boer would have had to creep through two or three hundred yards 
of thorny bush, and he would probably have alarmed the Lion long before he arrived within 
shot. He had thought over this, and had concluded that after dragging the carcass of the 
horse all the way from the farm, the Lion would not be disposed to drag it very far through 
the underwood in the kloof, and that, therefore, he should find the carcass of the horse at 
least at no great distance from the edge of the ravine, and probably the Lion close to it. 
Now it is the nature of the Lion, when gorged, to sleep during the day; and if the 
animal has carried off any prey, it usually conceals itself near the remains to watch them 
until it is ready for another feast. 
The Boer was aware of all this, and had laid his plans very judiciously. He 
approached the kloof slowly and silently, hit off the spoor of the Lion, and traced the spot 
where the horse had been allowed to remain on the ground for a short time. 
Although he moved onwards very slowly and with great caution, he was soon 
surrounded by the bush; and the brightness of the plain was succeeded by the gloom of 
the kloof. Being a most experienced hand at bushcraft, he was enabled to walk or crawl 
without causing either a dried stick to crack or a leaf to rustle, and he was aware that 
his progress had been accomplished without noise ; for the small birds, usually so watchful 
and so much on the alert, flew away only when he approached close to them, thus showing 
that their eyes and not their ears had made them conscious of the presence of man. 
Birds and monkeys are the great obstacles in the bush to the success of a surprise, 
for the birds fly from tree to tree, and whistle or twitter, whilst the monkeys chatter and 
grimace, and express, by all sorts of harlequin movements, that some curious creature is 
approaching. When, therefore, the bushranger finds that birds and monkeys are uncon- 
scious of his presence until they see him, he may be satisfied that he has traversed the 
bush with tolerable silence, and has vanquished such formidable obstacles as sticks 
hidden by leaves, broken and dead branches, &c. 
There is a vast difference between hearing or reading how any dangerous work has 
been accomplished, and doing that work itself. But we can, by imagining ourselves in the 
position of the performer, realize in a measure the sort of sensations which he must have 
experienced, and we can then weigh the effect which the circumstance would have 
produced upon our own moderately strong nerves. It is highly probable that those who 
sigh for new sensations, might possibly find them were they to enter a dense bush on foot, 
and expect momentarily to meet, within speaking distance, a Lion of capacious maw, or a 
long-tusked, heavy-footed elephant, or even such a moderate opponent as a bull buffalo. 
The effect produced upon the system is much decreased when many individuals are 
together. To obtain the most satisfactory results, therefore, a person should undertake 
the journey alone, and he will soon learn to consider those only as epicures who thus 
conjointly enjoy solitude and excitement. 
The Boer had penetrated scarcely fifty yards into the bush, when he had reason to 
suspect that he was close upon the lair of the Lion. He believed that such was a fact in 
consequence of the strong leonine scent, and from a part of the carcass of the horse 
being visible between the intervening branches. Instead, therefore, of advancing, as an 
incautious or inexperienced bushranger would have done, he crouched down behind a 
bush, and assumed a convenient attitude, so that he could remain still without in- 
convenience. 
All the animal creation are aware of the advantages of a surprise, and the feline tribe 
especially practise the ambuscading system. The Boer therefore determined, if possible, 
to turn the tables on the Lion, and to surprise, rather than to be surprised. He concluded 
