Lions 
lying up. There were three or four large bones 
that had been greatly gnawed, and the smell of 
lion was very strong. 
Nothing would induce that dog to enter the 
place; his tail was tucked tight between his 
legs, and he looked, and probably felt, scared 
to death. 
That night lions roared incessantly quite close 
to camp; one of them must have been within 
fifty yards of us. I took the precaution to load 
my °577, which seemed to amuse Kopping, who 
told me he never loaded his old Martini. At 
night, he said, if a lion came for us, it would be 
too late to shoot. I differed from him, for I did 
not see the use of groping around in the dark 
looking for cartridges when by a little foresight 
the rifle could be loaded and ready for an emer- 
gency. We argued the matter for some time, 
and I happened to say he would pay the penalty 
one day for his carelessness, little dreaming that 
within a month this man would be killed by a 
lion, the whole tribe of which he so openly 
scorned. It happened that, after he had been 
out in this part of the veldt with Lord Ennis- 
more, he one day went out by himself, accom- 
panied only by one or two boys. Chancing to 
come upon a lion, a mangy one too, he wounded 
it, and had no time to reload his rifle before the 
beast came for him, killing him almost instantly. 
Had he been accompanied by another white 
77 
