Canoe Boy Bitten by Lion 
the blazing torch in my right hand. We had a 
short smoke. Tom was already asleep with his 
feet towards the river; close to his head was the 
small canoe boy, wrapped in his blanket, but at 
right angles to Tom’s body. Opposite to Tom, 
Weddell lay leaning on one arm. I was between 
the canoe man and the river. My rifle, the ‘577 
Express, was loaded and lay at my right hand. 
Weddell also had his rifle close beside him. I 
was in the act of knocking out the ashes from 
my pipe when a lion or lioness jumped amongst 
us, seizing the canoe boy, who happened to be 
the nearest object. Both Weddell and I fired, 
almost simultaneously, which made the animal 
drop its prey. My shot was fired with one hand, 
and how it was that one of us was not killed is 
a mystery to me, for there were bodies, blankets, 
and legs flying in all directions during the short 
second whilst the pandemonium lasted. The 
lion had seized the poor boy by his upper arm 
and ribs, and he probably: owed his life to the 
fact that, nigger-like, he had covered his head 
completely with his blanket. He had, though, 
a very deep wound on his arm and a great gash 
torn in his side. Luckily I had in my medicine . 
chest, which I happened to have with me, some 
very excellent oils, which I used to dress the 
wound with. I bound up the arm with a silk 
handkerchief after washing the wound out 
thoroughly with an antiseptic, then treated the 
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