THE LION OF SOUTH AFRICA. 99 



furiously on my troop ; but Klaas liacl fired and shot 

 her through the body. It was evident from the appear- 

 ance of her udders that she had young ones, and I was 

 not deceived in my conjectures. It occurred to me to 

 make use of her body to attract them out of the thicket. 

 With this design I caused her to be dragged out and 

 placed at a certain distance, not doubting but that they 

 would follow her scent and approach her, or perhaps 

 that the male would follow, either to avenge her or to 

 defend them. 



"But myrus& was useless, and we spent several hours 

 in vain waiting for them. The cubs, being disquieted 

 at not seeing their mother, ran growling all round the 

 stronghold ; and the male himself, separated from her, 

 redoubled his angry roars. We saw him for an 

 instant on the outskirt, his eyes on fire, his mane 

 bristling up, and lashing his sides with his tail ; but 

 he was out of reach of my rifle. One of my gunners, 

 posted more advantageously, missed him, and he disap- 

 peared. The sun was going down, and we decided to 

 put off the affair until the following day. The following 

 day the three lions had decamped." 



H2 



