152 THE LION. 



of a lion crouching in the bush. Softly and with 

 difficulty I crept forward, followed closely by my men, 

 through the high withered grass, beneath the dense 

 green nabbuk bushes, peering through the thick 

 covert, with nerves strung to the full pitch, and 

 the finger on the trigger, ready for any emergency. 

 We had thus advanced for about half an hour, 

 during which I frequently applied my nose to within 

 a foot of the ground to catch the scent, when 

 a sudden puff of wind brought the unmistakeable 

 smell of decomposing flesh. For a moment I halted, 

 and looking round to my men, I made a sign that 

 we were near to the carcass, and that they were to 

 be ready with the rifles. Again I crept forward, 

 bending, and sometimes crawling, beneath the thorns, 

 to avoid the slightest noise. As I approached the 

 scent became stronger, until at length I felt that I 

 must be close to the carcass. This was highly 

 exciting. Fully prepared for a quick shot, I 

 stealthily crept on. A tremendous roar in the dense 

 thorns within a few feet of me suddenly brought the 

 rifle to my shoulder; almost on the same instant 

 I observed the three-quarter figure of either a lion 

 or a' lioness within three yards of me, on the other 

 side of the bush, under which I had been creeping, 

 the foliage concealed the head, but 1 could almost 

 have touched the shoulder with my riile. Much 

 depended upon the bullet, and I fired exactly through 

 the centre of the shoulder. Another tremendous 

 roar, and a crash in the bushes as the animal made 

 a bound forward, was succeeded by a similar roar, 

 as another lion took the exact position ot the last, 



