LIONS. 63 



fired at the nose, which, to my astonishment, he 

 hit The ball, after blowing the brain to atoms, 

 smashed the lower neck bones and a couple of feet 

 of the backbone, finally lodging in the loins, and 

 the lion died without even a visible convulsive 

 motion. On examination we found that the first 

 hit had merely ripped up the skin of the left thigh 

 for a few inches and scarcely drawn a drop of 

 blood. 



This lion was just full grown and in fine con- 

 dition, and weighed by estimation about four 

 hundred pounds. I sent the skin and skull as a 

 present to a gentleman in Scotland. During the 

 trip these were the only lions I saw, although we 

 often enough heard them both in the night and 

 early morning. Shortly after this rumpus we came 

 into the camp of a young English transport rider 

 named Daniels, who had brought loads to 

 Barberton Mine, and had gone down into the 

 plains along the Oliphant's River to rest and 

 recruit his wearied oxen. Here a lion killed one 

 of his beasts, and Daniels, taking his Martini and 

 a Boer, the animal was soon found and wounded 

 by a shot fired by Daniels, who, after inserting 

 another cartridge, followed up the wounded beast 



