iv BUSHMAN KILLED BY LION 71 



servant of mine was badly bitten in the small of the 

 back when running away from a charging lion which 

 he had previously wounded. All these wounds 

 were so low down that they must have been in- 

 flicted when the lion's forefeet were on the ground. 

 On the other hand, many cases are on record of men 

 standing facing charging lions being seized by the 

 left forearm and sometimes by the shoulder. I do 

 not remember to have heard of a case of a man 

 being bitten in the head in a frontal charge, but 

 one of my old servants, " Black Jantje," described 

 to me very minutely the way in which he saw 

 from a distance of only a few yards a Bushman 

 killed by a wounded lion. When the lion charged 

 every one ran, and just as " Black Jantje " reached 

 a small tree, it dashed past him and the next instant 

 caught up to a Bushman. It appeared, Jantje told 

 me, to rear itself up, and placing a forepaw on each 

 shoulder, gave the unfortunate savage a bite in 

 the head. There were no wounds on the man's 

 shoulders, but his skull was bitten through, and he 

 was dashed to the ground with such violence that 

 the skin was knocked off both his knees. The 

 wounded lion made no further attack, but walking 

 slowly away to the foot of a neighbouring tree, lay 

 down and presently died within a few yards of its 

 dead enemy. Two cases have come within my 

 experience of lions charging home, and after having 

 thrown their adversaries to the ground with one 

 severe bite, leaving them without further molesta- 

 tion. I have known personally a number of men 

 who had been mauled by lions. Everyone of them 

 was bitten, not struck by the lion's paw. Indeed, 

 most of them were absoultely untouched by the 

 lion's claws. 



I once made the acquaintance of a fine old Boer 

 hunter with whom I subsequently became very 

 intimate, just after he had been very severely mauled 



