THE LION OF KROU-NEGA. 285 



under his regular tread. He marched with assurance 

 towards my side of the ford, but it was not until he was 

 five or six: paces from* me that I again caught sight of 

 his glowing eyes. I had several times taken aim to try if I 

 could distinguish the sight on my gun, but I could not even 

 see the barrels; nevertheless, the lion's eyes suddenly 

 appeared again, fixed and burning, and riveted my regard 

 with their spectral intensity. I tried to judge of the direc- 

 tion of his body by their position, and with my eyes wide 

 open and my head erect, I took my aim, and pressed the 

 trigger. 



The flash of fire that followed brought out every feature 

 of the scene with the utmost distinctness. For an instant I 

 saw the huge animal in the water, the surrounding trees, the 

 deep ravine, and then again nought but utter darkness, that 

 rung to a savage roar of mingled pain and rage. The lion 

 was wounded. 



Having withdrawn my feet from the root that overhung 

 the bank of the brook, I stood on the defensive. I could 

 have fired my second barrel in the same way I had fired the 

 first, but I resolved at all hazards to retain it in case of need. 

 For a few moments I could hear the lion struggling and 

 splashing in the water below me, and then I could hear 

 nothing at all but the swirl of the brook. 



I listened for some time, but in vain. Presently the Arab 

 came out of his concealment, where he had listened to the 

 whole of the performance, and said that the lion must be 

 either dead or crippled to judge by his roaring. Not being 

 willing to explore that region of shadows in company with 

 such game, we returned to the douar to wait for daylight, that 

 never seemed so long in coming. 



The first thing I saw in the morning, after reaching the 

 spot of my evening adventure, was the root on which I had 

 braced my feet, cut in two by the teeth of the lion, and all 



