THE VENGEANCE OF THE WILD 255 



once in the throat, and the brute, mortally 

 wounded and bleeding to death, dropped its 

 prey and staggered away. Shouting at it, to 

 complete its confusion, Mr. Wolhuter backed 

 towards the tree, up which he clambered as 

 quickly as he could in his condition. He was 

 only just in time, for, though the wounded lion 

 had no more fight left in it, the other, having 

 failed to come up with the horse, now returned, 

 probably thinking to share the meal. It was, 

 however, closely followed by the dog, and that 

 gallant brute worried it so effectually that it 

 too retired. Mr. Wolhuter, now thoroughly 

 exhausted, was eventually rescued from the 

 tree, with great difficulty, by his native servants, 

 and, though he suffered badly from shock and 

 blood-poisoning, he ultimately recovered from 

 an adventure that must be unique in the annals 

 of African sport. In his opinion, these lions 

 were not man-eaters, but were probably after 

 the horse. As that had gone off, with one lion 

 in pursuit, the other probably took what it 

 could get and turned its attention to the rider. 

 As a post-mortem examination of the dead lion 

 showed that it must have been starving, this 

 was in all probability the correct view of the 

 case. 



The strength and cunning of the African 

 elephant make it less dangerous only than the 

 lion, and it has had many victims, including 



