70 THE LION KILLER. 



of its beauty, and from the heart some of its emotions, and 

 prevent his tasting and perhaps understanding the feelings of 

 the isolated hunter. 



From the moment that the first star springs to its place in 

 the evening sky, until the red flush of the dawning, the 

 solitary man has to be ever on the watch to catch the 

 slightest motion, to hear the faintest sound, to judge quickly 

 and decidedly whether he is mistaking stones for robbers, if 

 he is following a path or not, if the thicket at his side con- 

 ceals a foe, to listen and detect if he is followed, and in a 

 word to remember that death is around and about him in a 

 thousand forms, and there is no help or hope from living 

 man but himself. He therefore feels a constant emotion, and 

 yet always has the readiness and coolness to fight a battle 

 which cannot always save him, but without which he is lost 

 beyond redemption. These are the reasons that made me 

 love the chase of the lion alone in the wilderness. 



If there is among the hunters, for whom these lines are 

 written, any one who would wish to enter the lists in order to 

 comprehend the joys which outweigh all fatigue, I would say 

 to him : The road is open, enter it who will. 



But away with the covered blinds and ambuscades which 

 are used by the Arabs ! Away with the daylight hunt, 

 either alone or with friends to drive away fear ! Wait for 

 the night, and at the first roar of the lion set out alone and 

 on foot. If you do not meet the animal, try it again on the 

 following night, and the next, and the next, until you have 

 succeeded. 



If you should live to come back from this hunt, and I hope 



