72 IN THE GRIP OF THE NYIKA chap. 



fifteen yards in diameter, with a raised rim all round. 

 On the opposite side of this I could dimly make 

 out in the darkness the forms of three animals 

 which I now took to be large pigs, as we had been 

 putting up several of these animals for the last half 

 hour of our ride— in fact, I called out to Mrs. S. 

 " Oh, they are only pigs ! " The moment they heard 

 my voice, they all three rose up, and I then saw to 

 my astonishment that they were not pigs but lions! 



It was impossible to follow their movements in 

 the gloom, and as I feared they were coming for me, 

 I mounted Aladdin in record time and was about to 

 ride hastily off, when my companion, who was in a 

 position to have a better view than I, called out 

 " They're going ! they're going ! " Thus reassured, 

 I dismounted, and taking my courage in both hands, 

 aimed at what I imagined to be a standing lion. 

 As the object did not move I made a closer inspec- 

 tion, and found that it was only a bush, behind 

 which the lions had taken shelter in their line of 

 retreat. It was out of the question to think of 

 pursuing them, as we could not see ten yards ahead, 

 so, much to our chagrin, we had to turn our backs 

 on the lions and push on as rapidly as possible for 

 camp. 



On the way we felt distinctly "creepy," riding 

 along in the dark, and not knowing what wild beast 

 might be lurking among the bushes ready to spring 



