462 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



and wait for us at the foot of the mountain/ I said to one of the 

 shieks, ' let the others attend me with my carbines, and do both of 

 you follow me in silence/ 



" When I had reached the crest of the mouatain, I found amid 

 the snow a hollow like the lair of wild beasts, stained with bloou, 

 and could perceive, from the traces still left, that from this spot the 

 lions had directed their course towards a valley, which seemed likelj 

 enough to afford them cover. I directed two parties to follow very 

 quietly the projecting ledge of rocks which forms, as it were, a cor- 

 nice, the entire length of the Zerazer, abstaining from any attempt 

 to descend the side. They were to march towards the south, raising 

 a great outcry, but without firing a single shot. In case the lions 

 should assume the offensive, their cries were to cease, and the senti- 

 nels, who- were so placed as to be witnesses of every thing, were to 

 give the alarm. Satisfied, from sufficient signs, that the snow-plain 

 where I had found the marks of blood was the route usually tra- 

 versed by the foes I was seeking, I disarmed my two attendants of 

 their carbines, and placing them in a cleft of the rock, where they 

 would be able to observe every thing without any danger to them- 

 selves, I sat down upon a piece of stone in the open plain. The 

 wind brought me the sound of a prolonged shout, and I concen- 

 trated all my attention upon the proceedings of the signal-mem. For 

 about an hour I had been listening to the cries of the scouts, when 

 a gazelle appeared upon the hill above me. She stopped a moment, 

 and casting a look behind her, sprang forward, and ran towards me 

 with the utmost speed. She passed on my left, within fifteen feet 

 of me, and a noise I heard immediately afterwards satisfied me that 

 I acted wisely in not firing at her. A lion, separated from his com- 

 panions, came direct towards me, seated as I was close by a bush, 

 at the foot of which lay the path the creature followed; I did not 

 move, hoping to be able to fire upon him at a distance of ten feet, 

 and intending to aim at him between the eyes. 



"For a moment he disappeared, hidden by the windings of the 

 path amongst the bushes. My gun at my shoulder, my finger upon 

 the trigger, T waited with impatience for his re-appearance, when an 

 acclamation, uttered by the Arabs who were concealed behind- ne, 



