400 THE GREAT THIRST LAND. 



beasts thought to intimidate me, for with a quiet, mea- 

 sured step he advanced, showing his teeth, and giving 

 utterance to a short, smothered growl. Cocking my 

 gun, I waited, resolved not to fire till the brute was 

 within thirty yards, when, if the first bullet did not do 

 its work, the second would be delivered at a shorter 

 range. His majesty, however, disapproved of the posi- 

 tion of affairs, halted, looked round to see if the way 

 were open for retreat, turned, and trotted quietly off, 

 every few strides casting a look over his shoulder, to 

 assure himself that he was not followed. Had the range 

 not been so great, I should have fired ; but possibly it 

 was better I did not do so, for if I had only wounded 

 the animal, it certainly would have been a case for the 

 second barrel to decide whether he or I was to be 

 killed. 



This little contretemps seemed to put fresh energy 

 into myself and mare, for when I got into the saddle, of 

 her own accord she managed to get up a canter, which 

 she retained for a couple of miles. 



The vley could not be very distant now, and I 

 was commencing to wonder that it had not been already 

 reached, when I heard the tinkling of ox-bells, and soon 

 after saw a large mob of cattle, in charge of some Mata- 

 bele herdsmen. Approaching them, I found one under- 

 stood a few words of English, so I told him not to go in 

 the direction in which the cattle were feeding, as I had 

 just seen a lion. On that the herdsmen headed the 

 cattle in the direction I was pursuing. 



At length I recognised that the forest was becoming 

 less dense, the renewed energy of my mare told me that 

 she smelt water, and was anxious to reach it, so giving 

 her a slack rein, she broke into a gallop, and in a few 



