54 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 



ran out of the tent with his gun. About thirty paces from 

 the tent stood a lion, which, on seeing us, walked very 

 deliberately about thirty paces farther, behind a small thorn- 

 bush, carrying something with him, which I took to be a 

 young ox. We fired more than sixty shots at that bush, 

 without perceiving any movement. The south-east wind blew 

 strong, the sky was clear, and the moon shone very bright, 

 so that we could perceive everything at that distance. After 

 the cattle had been quieted again, and I had looked over 

 everything, I missed the sentry from before the tent, Jan 

 Smit, from Antwerp. We called as loudly as possible, but 

 in vain ; nobody answered, from which I concluded that the 

 lion had carried him off. Three or four men then advanced 

 very cautiously to the bush, which stood right opposite the 

 door of the tent, to see if they could discover anything of 

 the man, but returned helter-skelter; for the lion, who was 

 there still, rose up, and began to roar. They found there 

 the musket of the sentry, which was cocked, and also his cap 

 and shoes. We fired again about a hundred shots at the 

 bush, without perceiving anything of the lion, from which 

 we concluded that he was killed, or had run away. This 

 induced the marksman of our company to go and see if he 

 was still there or not, taking with him a firebrand. As soon 

 as he approached the bush, the lion roared terribly, and 

 leapt at him; on which he threw the firebrand at him, and 

 the other people having fired about ten shots at him, he 

 retired directly to his former place behind that bush. The 

 firebrand which he had thrown at the lion had fallen in the 

 midst of the bush, and, favoured by the strong south-east 

 wind, it began to burn with a great flame, so that we could 

 see very clearly into and through it. We continued our firing 

 into it until the night passed away, and the day began to 

 break, when seven men were posted on the farthest waggons 

 to watch him, and to take aim at him if he should come 

 out At last, before it became quite light, he walked up the 



