<+> More Lion-Hunting Experiences 



their unexpected appearance, has put me in a tight corner. 

 One lioness 1 can still see standing a few paces away from 

 me, outlined clearly against the dun-coloured, sun-scorched 

 velt, her yellow eyes gleaming as they watch me. But 

 the traveller may have: to wait years and years tor such 

 an experience. Among sportsmen who have been luckv 

 in this respect may he mentioned Duke Adolf Fried- 

 rich von Mecklenburg, who shot a fine lion on his very 

 first hunt in German Fast Africa. This is a record feat. 



Xever shall I torget the exciting hours 1 spent one 

 day in i Hgg following up the: tracks of a party ot no less 

 than fourteen lions. Five hours it took me to get within 

 sight of them, in a thorn}' jungle: with an undergrowth of 

 bowstring hemp. I had never come across so large a 

 party before. The 1 tracks ot their might}- paws stood out 

 clearly in the line dust e>t the velt. 



There' is an extraordinary fascination in following up 

 tracks of wild animals in this way. more or less hap- 

 ha/arel. As you move forward your imagination goes 

 ahead ot you, picturing in a hundred different fashions the: 

 way in which you will at last come upon your quarry. In 

 this case perhaps it was |ust as well tor me the lions 

 became aware ot me as they lay in the shade ot some 

 acacia-trees, )ust as 1 was scrambling up a hill, and in a 

 moment they had all disappeared 



\\lleil 1 got to tile spot where- tile}' had been lyill^'. I 

 was just m time- to catch a List glimpse ot them disappear- 

 ing into a thicket at the bottom ot the hill. A strong smell 

 ot lions was there to reinforce the tracks and prove to my 

 senses that 1 was not the victim ot an illusion. Such 



