78 AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 



me, as it crept cautiously among the rocks on the steep 

 hillside, a hundred and fifty yards away. At first I could 

 not see it; finally I thought I did and fired, but, as it proved, 

 at a place just above him. However, it made him start up, 

 and I immediately put the next bullet behind his shoulders; 

 it was a fatal shot; but, growling, he struggled down the 

 hill, and I fired again and killed him. It was not much 

 of a trophy, however, turning out to be a half-grown male. 



We lunched under a tree, and then arranged for an- 

 other beat. There was a long, wide valley, or rather a slight 

 depression in the ground for it was only three or four feet 

 below the general level in which the grass grew tall, as 

 the soil was quite wet. It was the scene of Percival's ad- 

 venture with the lion that chased him. Hill and I stationed 

 ourselves on one side of this valley or depression, toward the 

 upper end; Pease took Kermit to the opposite side; and 

 we waited, our horses some distance behind us. The 

 beaters were put in at the lower end, formed a line across 

 the valley, and beat slowly toward us, making a great noise. 



They were still some distance away when Hill saw 

 three lions, which had slunk stealthily off ahead of them 

 through the grass. I have called the grass tall, but this was 

 only by comparison with the short grass of the dry plains. 

 In the depression or valley it was some three feet high. In 

 such grass a lion, which is marvellously adept at hiding, 

 can easily conceal itself, not merely when lying down, but 

 when advancing at a crouching gait. If it stands erect, how- 

 ever, it can be seen. 



There were two lions near us, one directly in our front, 

 a hundred and ten yards off. Some seconds passed before 

 Hill could make me realize that the dim yellow smear in 



