THE LION IN SOUTH AFRICA 317 



pace that, had I not been well mounted, I should never have 

 seen him again. As it was I galloped after him, and when he 

 found that my horse was gaining on him, he stopped and stood 

 at bay, when I shot him. In parts of the country where they 

 have been but little disturbed, lions will only walk slowly away 

 when unexpectedly encountered in the daytime, often turning 

 round and gazing fixedly at the intruder, and sometimes growl- 

 ing savagely and twitching their tails angrily the while. A 

 lioness with cubs, or a savage lion feeding at a carcase, will 

 occasionally come rushing forwards when disturbed, with every 

 demonstration of anger, and an apparent determination to 

 charge home. But in the great majority of even these excep- 

 tional cases such a demeanour would be nothing more than a 

 demonstration, only made in order to frighten the intruder 

 away ; and if the man were to stand his ground, the lion would 

 retreat. I remember an instance of this. Two friends of 

 mine having shot some elephants on a Saturday, resolved to 

 take a rest on the following day. Early on the Sunday morn- 

 ing some of their Kafirs having gone up to cut some meat from 

 the carcase of one of the elephants, returned with the news that 

 there was a lion there that would not let them come near it. 

 Wood and Clarkson thereupon at once took their heavy old 

 muzzle-loading elephant guns, the only weapons they possessed, 

 and went to investigate. As they approached the carcase, 

 Clarkson told me they could see nothing of the intruder and 

 thought he had decamped, but when they were still some 

 hundred and fifty yards distant, a magnificent dark-maned lion 

 suddenly appeared from behind the dead elephant, and came 

 rushing towards them, holding his head low between his 

 shoulders, twitching his tail from side to side and growling 

 savagely, and looking as if he meant to charge home. He only 

 came on for about fifty yards however, and then stood growl- 

 ing, and, as my friends said, looked grand in his fury. 



Clarkson had dropped on his knee to get a steadier shot 

 with his heavy elephant gun, but Wood, who was an old and 

 very experienced hunter, said, ' Don't fire, Matt ; let him come 



