SOUTH AFRICA FIFTY YEARS AGO 71 



thinner part of the bush, and I fired and wounded one of the 

 dogs. And the lioness, tired by the protracted worrying, and 

 startled perhaps by the sound of the gun, bounded off and 

 escaped without a shot. I have been often asked by those 

 who have seen the sketch, 'Oh, but why did you not turn 

 round and shoot her from the saddle ? ' And all the answer I 

 could or can give is, ' It's easy to say but difficult to do,' and 

 that in a second we were on the ground together. The men 

 told Livingstone that the dogs came out so close upon the 

 lioness that she, rather flustered at being swept from the horse's 

 back, turned to fight with them, and took no notice of me. 

 AVe caught the horse four miles off, and I sewed up and cured 

 his wounds, but he was never fit for anything again, bolting 

 dangerously at a stump or other dark object. A hard spin after 

 a straight-horned gemsbok killed him. 



It was here at Lupapi that I first saw the wild dogs hunting. 

 I had gone towards the water on the chance of a shot, late 

 one afternoon, and as I got into the little flat in which the 

 spring lay, an antelope broke through the bush on my right, 

 panic-stricken and blown. Thirty yards behind it came the 

 wild dogs ; before it had gained the middle of the open space 

 they ran into it, and though I was within 100 yards, they had 

 torn it nearly to pieces when I got up. They then retired a short 

 distance, sitting down and watching menacingly whilst I cut 

 away part of the hind quarters, and the moment I turned my 

 back swooped down on their prey, dismembering and putting 

 it out of sight in an incredibly short time. They are ugly- 

 looking brutes, more like jackals than dogs, with great endur- 

 ance in running, and great grip of jaw. Three or four head 

 the pack, holding the scent. As they tire, three or four 

 others take their places, the pack running loosely after the 

 leaders. 



We reached the kraals of the Ba-Mungwato, but met with a 

 surly reception. The chief wished to play the part of the great 

 potentate, and declined seeing us, sending messengers for 

 presents and specifying what they were to be. His envoys, 



