Lions 



I am convinced that Weddell had seen such a 

 thing. He also told me that at the same time 

 as he saw this happen he was walking about 

 one day looking for buffalo. In an opening or 

 glade he suddenly came unexpectedly on thir- 

 teen lions and lionesses all together. I asked him 

 what he did, and he said, " I gave 'em best, and 

 got out of it as soon as I could without shooting 

 at them." 



Now, of all animals the lion was the beast I 

 wanted more than any other to bag. It is, after 

 all, a matter of chance whether you come upon 

 them. For you may be in a district that fairly 

 swarms with them, and not have the luck to 

 even see one, let alone get a shot. On the 

 other hand, you may go out and get two or three 

 in one day, as happened to a man who tended 

 the bar at the hotel at Fontesvilla. He shot 

 three on one occasion with one bullet each, and 

 hit them all in the head, killing them instantly. 



After inspecting the lion tree I told Weddell 

 that I had never heard of such a thing before. 

 Moreover, I thought that any man who had 

 been in the habit of hunting lions would laugh 

 the idea to scorn. 



He said, " Yes, that may be so, but seeing is 

 believing." 



We now proceeded up a glade, or flat marsh, 

 bordered on one side with heavy reeds, and 

 on the other by bush and timber. We had 



