150 



CHAPTER X. 



SHOOTING THE LION BY NIGHT A NOT VERY ENVIABLE SITUA- 

 TION PERILOUS POSITION THE WOUNDED LION EXCITING 

 HUNTING SCENE NIGHT-SHOOTING GORDON CUMMING^S EXPE- 

 RIENCES THE LION IN THE DARK LIONS WATERING THE 

 MELBODA-ARAB LION HUNTERS THE SPRING-GUN THE PITFALL. 



BESIDES openly attacking the lion by clay, the 

 colonists and others not unfrequently shoot 

 him during the night season, either whilst devouring 

 the remains of a deer or other animal that he him- 

 self has slain, or the carcass of one laid out in the 

 wilderness to decoy him, or it may be at the fountain 

 when he repairs to it to quench his thirst. 



I myself have had more than one adventure with 

 lions when watching during the hours of darkness 

 in my " screen," (of a similar nature to that de- 

 scribed in a note at page 81) for elephants and other 

 large game. 



On one occasion, I must confess to having felt 

 rather uncomfortable. I had posted myself in a 

 dense mimosa brake, commanding the approach to 

 a certain river at a point much frequented by wild 

 animals and flanked by an immense pit-fall. The 

 darkness was deepened by surrounding thick foliage 

 and high river -banks. Indeed, so black was the 

 night that 1 could not discern even the muzzle of 



