70 THE LION OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



hands and knees towards the pond, to inform our guide 

 of the danger we were in. I found him not less fright- 

 ened than myself, and looking fixedly in the opposite 

 direction ; there, indeed, were two more lions and a 

 cub, devouring us with their looks, and appearing only 

 to await our movements, in order to decide upon their 

 own. By an optical illusion which I have often noticed 

 in obscurity, they appeared to he double their real size. 

 We lost no time in entrenching ourselves in the 

 waggon and in raking up our fire, whilst at only a short 

 distance from us we could hear the first lion tearing 

 and devouring his prey. "When one of the other 

 famished animals, which was prowling about the out- 

 skirts, attempted to approach him, he would drive him 

 away with such a horrible howling, as made our poor 

 oxen tremble, and was by no means reassuring to our- 

 selves. We had too good ground to fear that out of 

 six lions there might be at least one which would 

 spring upon us without allowing himself to be stopped 

 by our miserable fire. The two Barolongs begrudged 

 the animal his succulent repast, and from time to time 

 a sigh of regret would escape from them, at the 

 thought of the loss of their cow and of all the milk 

 with which she would have supplied them. A little 

 before daybreak, having swallowed the whole animal, 

 the lion retired, leaving nothing behind but some re- 

 mains of the bones. 



