50 SOUTH AFRICA. 



of mine, by name Cornelius Botha, while travelling 

 with another man in a cart near Pretoria, which 

 was then a very tiny village, had his pair of horses 

 killed by a lion while leisurely ascending the bank 

 of Pinaar's River after fording it. In this case 

 the pair had only one M.L. single-barrel gun with 

 them, and it refused to do more than explode 

 several caps, otherwise the lion could have been 

 easily killed as he was deliberately breakfasting 

 on one of the horses, which was still attached to 

 the cart by the harness. This sort of thing lasted 

 for half an hour or so, and whenever the 

 occupants of the cart moved an ominous growl 

 warned them to remain stationary. After a time 

 a waggon came up, and while fording the river the 

 tremendous Boer whip cracked so loudly that the 

 lion retired into a heavy reed bed hard by, and 

 thus escaped being penalised for felony. On this 

 occasion the brute had ensconced himself behind 

 a low bush close to the road, in waiting, evidently, 

 for anything or anybody of appetising appearance 

 passing by, and he omitted the usual spring by 

 which he mostly brings down a quarry, and merely 

 stepped out near enough to throw a paw over the 

 withers of the near-side horse and pulled it over, 



