MY SOMALI BOOK 91 



left, was a small patch of high grass that the lions 

 would probably make for in the first instance, and have 

 to pass us in so doing. This time Abdilleh had the 

 •400 ready beside me. The blazing up of the flames 

 was followed by several growls ; then a cub broke and 

 bolted away to the right, but he was only half grown 

 so I let him go. Next moment, a head appeared to 

 my right front, looking at us and snarling ; it dis- 

 appeared and then appeared again on the other side, 

 making a show of attacking. I did not wait to see if 

 this was bluff but fired at his chest and he collapsed 

 where he stood. At the report a lioness broke directly 

 in front and, seeing me, swerved and dashed past on 

 the left about ten yards away. As she did so I gave 

 her the left barrel of the Paradox behind the shoulder ; 

 she staggered but went on, vanishing behind the next 

 clump, however I had seen the spot of blood over the 

 heart and knew she was done for. 



The next thing was to snatch the -400 from Abdilleh 

 and push the Paradox into his hand to load. Then 

 seeing that No. 1 lying in front was trying to raise his 

 head I gave him a finisher. Handing the '400 back to 

 Abdilleh, I took the Paradox, which he had reloaded, 

 and aimed at a third lion which appeared and stood 

 for a moment close to the body of No. 1. I pressed 

 the trigger and nothing happened ! Now, I had had 

 my Paradox built specially with a no7i-automatic safety 

 mechanism, so that with the closing of the breech the 

 gun is ready, cocked. Abdilleh, in his excitement and 

 excess of zeal, had pushed back the safety bolt after 

 loading. It might have been an extremely awkward 

 mistake ! It only took a moment to rectify but my 



