194 THE LION. 



my hands and knees 3 and the lion, in consequence, 

 might easily have pounced upon me without a 

 moment's warning. At that time, however, I had 

 not obtained any experimental knowledge of the 

 old saying "A burnt child dreads the fire," and 

 therefore felt little or no apprehension. 



Thus I had proceeded for some time; when sud- 

 denly, and within a few paces of where I stood, I 

 heard a low, angry growl, which caused the dogs, 

 with hair erect in the manner of hogs' bristle, and 

 with their tails between their legs, to slink behind 

 my heels. Immediately afterwards, a tremendous 

 shout of " Ongeama ! Ongeama ! " was raised by 

 the natives on the bank above, followed by a dis- 

 charge of fire-arms. Presently, however, all was 

 still again, for the lion, as I subsequently learnt, 

 after showing himself on the outskirts of the brake, 

 had retreated into it. 



Once more I attempted to dislodge the beast ; 

 but, finding the enemy awaiting him in the more 

 open country, he was very loth to leave his strong- 

 hold. Again, however, I succeeded in driving him 

 to the edge of the brake, where, as in the first 

 instance, he was received with a volley; but. a 

 broom-stick would have been equally as efficacious 

 as a gun in the hands of these people, for, out of 

 a great number of shots that were fired, not one 

 seemed to have taken effect. 



Worn out at length by my exertions, and dis- 

 gusted beyond measure at the way in which the 

 natives bungled the affair, I left the tamarisk brake, 

 and, rejoining them on the bank above, offered to 



