TWO LIONS THAT 



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hung before my tent as a trophy, was that I had forgotten 

 my iron pointed bullets, and had only been able to send him 

 a leaden token of my regard, which the result proved, was 

 not a sufficient consideration for so great a person. I knew 

 he could not survive, but I still had the regret, that I had 

 not been able to obtain the body of a lion that had brought 

 me so near death's door. 



All Europeans whom I have ever heard speaking of 

 encounters of this kind, seem to think that the only thing 

 necessary to be done to succeed, is to be skillful, courageous 

 and cool. To hear them argue, one would think that it was 

 only a question of practice, as though every lion did not teach 

 you the contrary by the difference of his attacks, and the 

 circumstances attending it. There is hardly a French officer 

 of the African army that does not think in this wise. One 

 must be sure of himself, and then he is sure of the lion ; such 

 is their constant reasoning. To be sure of one's self then, as 

 they express it, means the patience of waiting for a lion that 

 is seen or heard approaching, the courage of walking up to 

 him when he does not come fast enough, and the coolness 

 and skill of aiming quietly and hitting him when you aim. 



But when one has done all that, and when he has besides 

 sufficient control over himself to say, I will go and sit down 

 on this stone or that root, and I will either kill or be killed 

 without taking a step in retreat, or without even raising from 

 my seat when the lion shall charge ; when one has done all 

 that and yet discovers that eight times in ten, he can only kill 

 with the second and third shot, then he is convinced, in spite 

 of himself, that courage, and' address, and impassibility are 

 only accessories to the result, and that safety in these w r ild 

 and unequal combats is accorded only to those who are 

 fortunate. 



I had, even at this period of my life, begun to rely on 

 myself only for these two things ; to find the lion and to 



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