Lions 



lying up. There were three or four large bones 

 that had been greatly gnawed, and the smell of 

 lion was very strong. 



Nothing would induce that dog to enter the 

 place ; his tail was tucked tight between his 

 legs, and he looked, and probably felt, scared 

 to death. 



That night lions roared incessantly quite close 

 to camp ; one of them must have been within 

 fifty yards of us. I took the precaution to load 

 my '577, which seemed to amuse Kopping, who 

 told me he never loaded his old Martini. At 

 night, he said, if a lion came for us, it would be 

 too late to shoot. I differed from him, for I did 

 not see the use of groping around in the dark 

 looking for cartridges when by a little foresight 

 the rifle could be loaded and ready for an emer- 

 gency. We argued the matter for some time, 

 and I happened to say he would pay the penalty 

 one day for his carelessness, little dreaming that 

 within a month this man would be killed by a 

 lion, the whole tribe of which he so openly 

 scorned. It happened that, after he had been 

 out in this part of the veldt with Lord Ennis- 

 more, he one day went out by himself, accom- 

 panied only by one or two boys. Chancing to 

 come upon a lion, a mangy one too, he wounded 

 it, and had no time to reload his rifle before the 

 beast came for him, killing him almost instantly. 

 Had he been accompanied by another white 



77 



