154 THE WILDERNESS AND JUNGLE 



circumstances, and that mighty hunter gave it 

 as his opinion, from long and unique experience 

 of these animals, that if he had managed to 

 shoot one of the animals dead, the rest would 

 in all probability have bolted, but that if he 

 had only wounded it badly, they would have 

 been just as likely to charge. 



Perhaps the most convincing case of coward- 

 ice in lions is one for the story of which I am 

 indebted to Mr. H. C. de la Poer (of the 

 Warwickshire Regiment), and which may be 

 told in his own words : 



"One morning, about eleven, when shooting 

 in the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast, 

 I climbed a steep, rocky hill to get a better 

 view of the bush-covered plain below, and on 

 reaching the summit, moving silently over the 

 rock in felt-soled boots, I blundered right into 

 a small party of lions asleep. The lion, with 

 one lioness, jumped up and trotted behind 

 some boulders about ten yards further on. As 

 my gun-bearers were some distance behind, 

 with both my rifles, I could do nothing but 

 stand there and gape ; and while I was thus 

 occupied, a second lioness rose, literally at 

 my feet, stretched herself, gave me a long 

 stare, and finally walked slowly in the direc- 

 tion taken by her companions. When she 

 had gone a few yards, however, she stopped, 

 turned broadside to me, and stared again. 

 By wagging my hands furiously behind my 



