A FIGHT WITH FIVE LIONS 297 



past. A second more and she had overtaken 

 her prey and pulled it to the ground. 



"The two other lionesses had killed their 

 bullock, and for the first time I realised that 

 they were likely at any moment to attack me; 

 so I jumped from the stone-boat and bolted for 

 home as fast as I could run. I had gone but 

 a few steps when I looked back and saw the 

 black and shaggy-maned lion coming behind at 

 a terrific pace. There was no mistake this time; 

 he surely was after me, for there were no cattle 

 in the line of his charge. 



"It was useless for me to try to outrun him, 

 and to continue would only give him courage. 

 Realising this, I turned and faced the brute, 

 and as he came to within a hundred feet of me I 

 cracked the bull-whip as loud as I could. This 

 had the effect of stopping him at fifteen paces 

 from me. And there we stood, facing each 

 other like two gladiators, the lion lashing his 

 tail, wrinkling his nose, and snarling, while I 

 kept cracking the whip in his very face and 

 backing off slowly. 



"The big cat seemed to lack the courage to 

 follow up his attack but stood there threatening 

 me until I had gained several paces on him. 



