THE LION IN SOUTH AFRICA 333 



carrying a 36o-grain expanding bullet, with only a small hollow 

 and a good solid end, a more trustworthy weapon than a rifle of a 

 much larger bore carrying a short light bullet with a very large 

 hollow. Doubtless a good '577-bore rifle is a much more 

 powerful weapon than any '450 ; but the latter if carrying a 

 good heavy bullet will be found very effective for lion shooting, 

 and is not only lighter and handier than the larger rifle, but 

 has no recoil, as the charge of powder is comparatively small. 



I will now conclude this chapter by giving an account of 

 the death of the largest lion that it has been my fortune to 

 bag the same animal whose weight and dimensions I have 

 given on p. 329. 



Towards the end of the second year of the occupation of 

 Mashonaland by the British South Africa Company, I was 

 sent to some of the mining camps to the north and west of 

 Salisbury, in order to make a report upon the roads in those 

 districts. On December 8, 1891, 1 reached Hartley Hills, one 

 of the outlying stations of the British South Africa Company, 

 where, at the time of my visit, there were about twenty 

 Europeans living, most of whom were employed in mining 

 work. Among the company's officials were Mr. Woodthorpe 

 Graham, the gold commissioner and chief magistrate of the 

 district, and Dr. Edgelow, the district surgeon. For some 

 days previous to my arrival at the station, the weather had 

 been very rainy, and the sky dull and cloudy. Hartley Hills 

 are, I may here say, two small ' kopjes,' formed of granite 

 boulders piled up one upon another to a height of perhaps 

 100 feet above the surrounding country. On one of these 

 hills stood the stores and dwelling houses of Frank Johnson & 

 Co., while the Gold Commissioner and the Doctor occupied 

 the other ; and it was at the foot of the latter hill that I out- 

 spanned my waggon at a distance of not more than twenty 

 yards from Mr. Graham's compound. As I knew that a great 

 deal of damage had been done lately by one particular lion, 

 which had been seen on several occasions, and which was 

 always described as a very large animal with a fine mane, I 



