CHAP. v. LIONS. 257 



became anxious for my presence, saying that their enemy 

 feared to go where I was. 



This, however, was not destined to last. One sultry 

 evening I arrived late at the outermost village, having 

 been forced to leave the spoor of a herd of elephants from 

 want of ammunition, and being very tired, I determined 

 to sleep at it, sending on two of my men to fetch some 

 from the place which I had made my headquarters. Tired as 

 I was with my exertions on an unusually hot day, I soon 

 fell asleep in the hut that had been given up to our use ; 

 but, as the heat was stifling, I was not at ah 1 surprised at 

 being awoke towards midnight by a heavy thunderstorm, 

 which crashed round us for half an hour or more. At last 

 the hush came that always accompanies the tremendous 

 rain which follows, and seems to quench, such storms, 

 broken only by the heavy splashing of the big drops, and 

 the gurgle of the water which flooded the ground, and I 

 should soon have been asleep again had not a drop come 

 splash into my face through the ill-thatched roof, almost 

 immediately followed by a small stream, of which it had 

 been the advanced guard. This necessitated my looking 

 out for a drier spot, when suddenly, out of the quiet of 

 the descending rain, came such a confused clamour of 

 shrieks and cries, of yelling and moaning, that until I 

 heard the voice of the lion, I was utterly unable to account 

 for it. This lasted for full half a minute, and then came 

 such a blood-curdling yell of mingled pain and despair as 

 I hope I may never hear again, and which haunted my 

 dreams for many a month after. 



My men, and among them two old hunters, each of 

 whom had killed several lions, shrunk crouching back to 



R 



