A LION HUNT IN THE VALLEY OF OURTEN. 387 



party might have been seen winding its way among the 

 copse of cork, olives and jujube trees, that were scattered 

 along the slopes of the hill. 



Mr. Rodenburgh and myself were on horseback, following 

 at a half trot the long strides of Amar-ben-Sigha. Behind 

 us came an Arab carrying in his arms a kid, that from time 

 bleated for the mother it had left, and finally a half-dozen 

 Arabs, each with his long gun and yataghan, ran behind as a 

 sort of rear guard, scampering off here and there on the rocks 

 with the agility of cats, to look down on the fields, or point- 

 ing out passing trails with a quick motion of finger or eye. 

 At half past seven, we reached the brook where Amar had 

 taken the trail, and a moment's halt permitted us to see the 

 huge foot-prints that were stamped in the mud on either side 

 of the ford, and showed the animal to be a large old lion, 

 and the natives at once pronounced it my friend of Kren- 

 chela. 



The lion, as near as we could judge, was sleeping on the 

 southern slope of the mountain, and about a hundred paces 

 from a deep ravine. On the other slope of the hill, and on 

 the border of the same ravine, I found a little clearing or 

 glade of about ten square yards, completely surrounded by 

 high trees, and not more than a hundred and fifty yards from 

 the very bushes where the lion lay concealed. We imme- 

 diately took possession of the spot, and while one of the men 

 was busy tying the kid to a tree, and the others were hand- 

 ing me my guns, the lion quietly stepped out of the woods 

 on the other side of the ravine, and looked at what we were 

 doing with evident marks of curiosity and interest. 



At the sight of this apparition there was a general rush 

 among my men, so immediate and so universal, that in a 

 second I was alone facing the lion, with only the kid in sight, 

 who screamed with fear and tried hard to break the cord and 

 come to me. In another instant the lion had disappeared 



