THE LION 21 



grass. The animals sprang up and rushed away, and 

 so close were they that a lioness actually knocked one 

 of the natives down with her hind-quarters ; but they 

 made no attempt to injure anyone, their energies appear- 

 ing to be concentrated only upon escape. In my experi- 

 ence there is much less risk in following up a slightly 

 wounded lion when he is in company with others, than 

 when he is alone. He then seems to feel a sense of 

 security from the neighbourhood of his fellows, whereas 

 by himself he considers that he is in a "tight place," 

 and must defeat his enemies at all cost. However, it is 

 quite impossible to anticipate individual action. After 

 having killed a lioness I followed her mate into some 

 very thick bush, and got a snapshot at him, which it was 

 assumed had missed. After pushing our way to the 

 spot where he had been standing, the " boys " and 

 myself were peering about to see which way he had 

 gone, when he was heard to crash away from a thorn 

 bush not five yards distant, behind which he had been 

 lying down. Here traces of blood on the leaves proved 

 that he had been wounded, and there is not the slightest 

 doubt that had he been a courageous animal, or had 

 he belonged to the other sex, one or other of us would 

 have paid some penalty for our rashness. 



Many natives display the utmost boldness in following 

 wounded lions, and take risks which no experienced 

 white man would care to undergo. In some cases this 

 is due to want of imagination or experience, as is proved 

 by the excessive caution the same men will display after 

 they have received practical proof of a lion's powers. 

 Wolhuter, in company with a young friend who had no 

 experience of the animals, and five native trackers, all of 

 whom were carrying spare rifles, once followed up a 

 slightly wounded lioness. Feeling a severe attack of 



