126 THE LION. 



wise he would hardly have had time, for in a second 

 or two he felt his horse stagger under him, and, on 

 turning his head, saw the lioness perched on the 

 hind quarters of the poor animal. Happily for my 

 friend, the horse, at the instant of the attack, 

 swerved to one side, and coming in contact with a 

 thick thorn-bush, both the rider and the furious 

 brute were swept from off its back to the ground. 

 The concussion stunned Mr. Oswell, and he had no 

 recollection of what afterwards occurred. As the 

 lioness, however, did not molest him in any way, 

 the presumption is that, what with the fall and the 

 onset of the dogs, she became confused, and again 

 betook herself to cover. 



Another friend of mine, a distinguished field- 

 officer in Her Britannic Majesty's Service, but whose 

 name I am not at liberty to mention, had also a very 

 narrow escape from a lioness, and that under very 

 extraordinary circumstances. He had fired at the 

 beast (having previously killed its mate), but from 

 the unsteadiness of his horse he was unable to take 

 a correct aim, and the ball had merely grazed her 

 shoulder. She instantly charged with the usual 

 demonstrations of fury, and though he urged his 

 jaded steed to the utmost of its powers, the lioness 

 gained rapidly upon him ; at last, indeed, she ap- 

 proached so near that lie was prepared to strike her 

 on the head with the butt end of his rifle. At this 

 critical moment, however, to his great surprise and 

 delight, the enraged brute suddenly stopped short 

 in her course, and lay down on her belly, for which 

 singular freak my friend was utterly unable to 



