190 WILD 11EA8T3 AND THEIR WAYS CFIAP. 



broken by the bullet. It wus so dark that we could not discern 

 the figure of the animal beneath the thorns, although it was only 

 a few^ feet distant Having reloaded, I hardly knew what course 

 to pursue : we had no means of driving the lion from the bush, I 

 therefore examined the ground, and we discovered that the nabbuk 

 into which it had retreated was simply an isolated clump, sur- 

 rounded by narrow glades of sandy turf. From this asylum I felt 

 sure it could not move, and although it would have been more 

 heroic to have crept into the dark cover and have given it a 

 quietus, or more probably to have received it myself, we came to 

 the wise conclusion that if the lion could not move, it would be 

 there on the following morning, when we should have daylight in 

 our favour. 



We returned to camp, and the night passed without disturbance. 

 Directly after sunrise we returned to the spot, and we found the 

 lion still alive, although completely paralysed in the hinder 

 portions. A shot in the centre of the forehead terminated the 

 affair, and the joint efforts of ten men succeeded after great exer- 

 tion in sliding the carcase upon three inclined poles from the 

 ground to the saddle, while the camel was kneeling in a slight 

 hollow, which the people had scraped away for the purpose. 



I had no means of weighing this animal, but it was immensely 

 massive, and would according to my estimation have exceeded 500 Ibs. 



The accounts published respecting the character of lions differ 

 to such a degree that incidents which are considered natural in 

 one portion of Africa may be regarded as incredible in other 

 districts ; there can be little doubt that the character of the animal 

 is influenced by the conditions of its surroundings, which renders 

 it extremely difficult to write a comprehensive account, that will 

 embrace the entire family of lions throughout the world. 

 Roualeyn Gordon Gumming gave a terrible description of a night 

 attack upon his camp, when a lion bounded over the thorn fence, 

 and seizing a sleeping servant from beneath his blanket close to 

 the camp fire, carried him off into the surrounding darkness, and 

 deliberately devoured every portion, excepting one leg, which was 

 found on the following morning, bitten off at the knee-joint. This 

 was the more extraordinary, as another man was at the same time 

 asleep under the blanket with the unfortunate victim ; this cour- 

 ageous fellow snatched a heavy firebrand from the pile, and beat 

 the lion on the head in the endeavour to save his friend. Instead 

 of relinquishing its prey, the lion dragged the man only a short 

 distance, and commenced its meal so immediately that the cracking 

 of bones could be heard throughout the night. 



