THE LION COUNTRY 



There was no high grass where it entered, but only 

 thorny thickets which were well nigh impenetrable- 

 Several times we could hear the lion moving without 

 being able to see him. I continued my vain pursuit 

 until five o'clock in the evening, the setting sun alone 

 forcing me to return to camp. This pursuit was one 

 of the rashest acts of my sporting life. 



I had a marvellous escape in not being charged 

 through the jungle by the animal. I fully realised the 

 danger of pursuing it, but the sight of its splendid 

 mane had inspired me with such a desire to possess 

 it that I neglected the most elementary rules of pru- 

 dence. In the morning twilight I returned to the 

 spot where I had left the track ; a mile or more away 

 I saw some vultures, and running on with feelings of 

 misgiving found my beast dead, but alas ! in what a 

 condition. The cursed hyaenas had mangled half 

 the hind-quarters which the vultures were finishing. 

 I was fearfully angry, and in revenge killed half-a- 

 dozen of the carrion, who would not leave my lion 

 alone. I managed, however, to save the head and 

 neck, which I had mounted on a shield, as a souvenir 

 of the adventure. This lion had come out of the 

 thicket so soon as it saw me and suffered a cruel 

 death for exposing itself to my fire. 



The place where we are camping is infested with 

 tsetse, and my dog has been dreadfully bitten. In 

 a few days the poor beast was attacked by the terrible 

 disease communicated by the fly, and on the night of 



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