131 THROUGH ANGOLA 



The lion, possibly from astonishment, and 

 more probably because, happily for the photo- 

 grapher, he was nearly dead, allowed the man to 

 approach within a few yards of him. Then he 

 roared, and charged. The photographer fled, 

 followed by the lion ; both fell, exhausted and 

 close to each other. Then Machado fired again, 

 and killed the lion. 



When the body was examined, it was found 

 that the first bullet, fired the night before from 

 a large calibre Mauser rifle, had traversed the 

 abdomen, making a large exit wound, through 

 which a portion of gut protruded ; vital internal 

 organs, probably including the liver, had also 

 been injured. I believe the extraordinary luck 

 which protected this party of plucky novices was 

 largely the result of a wound causing shock to 

 that bunch of abdominal nerves, the splanchnics, 

 which arc both the aim and undoing of so many 

 boxers. The lion had got a knock-out blow the 

 first night, and this and the glare of the lamp 

 stopped him charging then, while his great weak- 

 ness, due to loss of blood, saved the photographer 

 the day after. 



A curious source of consolation to me, in the 

 trying days at Bimbas, where I was struggling 

 to persuade frightened and drunken villagers 

 to help me procure bait or spoor the lions, was 

 my chameleon " Jimmy." 



This was the second chameleon I had adopted 

 during my wanderings in Angola. The first was 

 found near the River Longoe ; this one, near the 

 Upper Coanza River, opposite Chuso village. 



