ix THE LION 189 



Upon waking early, we discovered the deep footprints upon the 

 sandy soil, which had marked a well-beaten path around our 

 impenetrable fence, showing that the lion had been patrolling 

 steadily throughout the night. This fact led me to suppose that 

 I should most probably find him somewhere within a very short 

 distance of the camp. I started with some of my best men, and 

 instead of a light single-barrel I carried my '577 rifle. 



The position of our camp was exceedingly favourable for game, 

 as the river made a circuitous bend, which had in ages past thrown 

 up a mass of alluvial soil of several hundred acres, all of which 

 was now covered with a succession of dense patches of nabbuk 

 jungle, interspersed with forest trees and numerous small glades of 

 fine dwarf grass, which formed a sward. I felt certain that our 

 visitor of the last night must be somewhere in this neighbourhood, 

 and I determined to devote the entire day to a rigorous search ; in 

 this my men were unanimous, as they objected to passing another 

 night in sleepless excitement and anxiety. 



Luck was against us. I had numerous opportunities during the 

 day of shooting other animals, but I was devoted entirely to the 

 lion, which we could not find. 



I was scratched with countless thorns, as we broke through the 

 thickest bushes, peering beneath their dark shade, and searching 

 every acre of the ground in vain. In spite of the great heat, we 

 worked from early morning until half an hour before sunset without 

 resting from our work ; all to no purpose ; there were tracks of 

 lions in all directions, but the animal itself was invisible. It was 

 time to turn towards home, and I led the way through low bush 

 and sandy glades not larger than an ordinary room, all of which 

 were so much alike that it was difficult to decide whether we had 

 examined them before, during the day's hard march. In several 

 places we discovered our own footprints, and thus cheerlessly we 

 sauntered homewards, tired, and somewhat disgusted at the failure. 



We were within half a mile of the camp, and I was pushing 

 my way through some dwarf green nabbuk about 5 feet high, 

 when, upon breaking into a small open glade, a large lion with a 

 dark shaggy mane started to its feet from the spot where it had 

 been lying, probably half asleep. I instantly fired, before it had 

 time to bound into the thick jungle, and with tremendous roars it 

 rolled over beneath the dense nabbuk bushes, where at this late 

 hour the shade was almost dark. As quick as possible I fired a 

 second shot, as it was rolling over and over, with extraordinary 

 struggles, and it disappeared in the almost impervious bush, drag- 

 ging its hind legs in such a manner that I felt sure the spine was 



