THE FIRST LIONESS. 171 



to realize that we were in Africa. For some 

 reason the delay was long. Then suddenly all 

 four of us simultaneously saw the same thing. 

 A quarter-mile away and on the hillside opposite 

 a magnificent lioness came loping easily along 

 through the grass. She looked very small at that 

 distance, like a toy, and quite unhurried. In- 

 deed, every few moments she paused to look back 

 in an annoyed fashion over her shoulder in the 

 direction of the row behind her. 



There was nothing to do but sit tight and wait. 

 The lioness was headed exactly to cross our front ; 

 nor, except at one point, was she at all likely to 

 deviate. A shallow tributary ravine ran into our 

 own about two hundred yards away. She might 

 possibly sneak down the bed of this. It seemed 

 unlikely. The going was bad, and in addition 

 she had no idea as yet that she had been sighted. 

 Indeed, the chances were that she would come 

 to a definite stop before making the crossing, in 

 which case we would get a shot. 



" And if she does go down the donga," 

 whispered Hill, " the dogs will locate her." 



Sitting still while things approach is always 

 exciting. This is true of ducks ; but when you 

 multiply ducks by lions it is still more true. We 

 all crouched very low in the grass. She leapt 



