90 THE LION OF SOUTH AFEICA. 



pursuing, but on approaching nearer I was soon dis- 

 abused. 



" One of them 'tad his lower jaw smashed, and almost 

 entirely gone; the shreds which still remained and 

 discovered the tongue were hanging all bleeding down 

 the neck and bosom. He gave no other sign of life 

 than a slight pulsation; but the prodigious swelling 

 of his head, the horrible alteration of his countenance, 

 his eyes out of their sockets, had so greatly disfigured 

 him, that he preserved no human features, and revolted 

 my sight at the same time that he lacerated my heart. 



"His companion had many bites and tears on his 

 body, and his arm broken, or rather crushed, in several 

 places. Nevertheless his state was by no means so 

 grievous, and he could even speak. We inquired the 

 cause of his misfortune. He told us that after we had 

 quitted them, they extinguished their fire in order not 

 to be discovered by the bushmen, and whilst sleeping 

 at a few yards from his companion, he was in a short 

 time woke up by his cries. He at once rushed to his 

 assistance, and he found himself fighting against the 

 claws of a lion, which he wounded in the flank. But 

 the animal, feeling himself wounded, threw himself 

 upon him, and before fleeing away, reduced him to the 

 state in which we found him." 



