52 /.'A, GAMI-: SHOOTING 



That night, half a mile from the waggons, from dark to dawn 

 a fight was going on. The air rang again and again with the 

 short snapping bark of attacking lions and the grunting snorts 

 of buffaloes on the defensive ; and, as soon as it was day, we 

 went to the field of battle. None of the combatants were to 

 be seen, but the whole story was clearly told by the trampled 

 ground. A herd of 40 or 50 buffaloes had evidently been 

 attacked by a number of lions the Kafirs said nine, from 



Death of Superior 



the spoor but the ground was so torn and trampled I could 

 not pretend to count. They had taken up a position in 

 front of a very dense patch of thorns, on a curve, and shifted 

 backwards and forwards as their flanks were threatened ; the 

 bulls and cows had corne to the front, the calves had been 

 placed in the rear, and they had held their own throughout 

 the night without the loss of a single calf ! The lions I had 

 seen in the afternoon were probably the baffled marauders. 

 We had been unsuccessful up to this time in killing buffaloes 



