THE FIRST LION 



weapons. We fronted the ( blank face of the 

 thicket. 



The wounded animal would stand a little waiting. 

 We made a wide circle to the other side of the stream. 

 There we quickly picked up the trail of the two unin- 

 jured beasts. They had headed directly over the hill, 

 where we speedily lost all trace of them on the flint- 

 like surface of the ground. We saw a big pack of 

 baboons in the only likely direction for a lion to go. 

 Being thus thrown back on a choice of a hundred 

 other unlikely directions, we gave up that slim 

 chance and returned to the thicket. 



This proved to be a very dense piece of cover. 

 Above the height of the waist the interlocking 

 branches would absolutely prevent any progress, 

 but by stooping low we could see dimly among the 

 simpler main stems to a distance of perhaps fifteen 

 or twenty feet. This combination at once afforded 

 the wounded lioness plenty of cover in which to 

 hide, plenty of room in which to charge home, and 

 placed us under the disadvantage of a crouched or 

 crawling attitude with limited vision. We talked 

 the matter over very thoroughly. There was 

 only one way to get that lioness out; and that 

 was to go after her. The job of going after her 

 needed some planning. The lion is cunning and 

 exceeding fierce, A flank attack, once we were 



"5 



