THE LION OF SOUTH AFRICA. 97 



returned a little before nightfall. He had probably 

 some suspicion of this cord : he examined it with his 

 paw, and, without exhibiting the least fear of the artil- 

 lery roaring in his ears, entered boldly, and devoured 

 the prey which he had left the previous evening." 



To conclude this subject, we will describe the siege of 

 a thick brake of underwood, in which a whole family of 

 lions had taken up their domicile. An entire horde of 

 Hottentots were on foot, armed with spears and other 

 weapons. Even the women and children had joined the 

 party not to fight, but to look on. Le Vaillant com- 

 manded the expedition. The following is an abridg- 

 ment of his account of the adventure : 



" The thicket was about two hundred yards long 

 by sixty wide. The space it occupied was lower than 

 the surrounding land, so that to penetrate into it we 

 had to descend. It was composed mostly of thorn 

 bushes, with some mimosas which rose towards the 

 centre. 



" In the impossibility of attacking the two formidable 

 beasts in their entrenchment, it became a question as 

 to the best method of getting them out of it. I de- 

 cided to place my marksmen, at short distances apart 

 on the heights all round the wood, in such a manner 

 that the lions could not gain the plain without being 

 seen, being persuaded that as soon as we could get 

 them into the open country we should find ourselves 



H 



