396 THE LION KILLER. 



every side in the greatest fright, and that when they collected 

 them together again, three of them were missing. They had 

 not seen the cause of the disturbance, or even any strange 

 tracks, but that there was no mistake with the herd, nothing 

 ever excited such terror but the lion. I directed them to 

 seek the bodies of the beeves early the next morning, and 

 after having found them to drag the two that were most 

 exposed to where the vultures would spy them, and carefully 

 cover the other with branches without moving it from where 

 the lion had left it. 



The next afternoon at sunset, I took my way to the moun- 

 tain under the guidance of one of the Arabs who had found 

 the bodies, and accompanied by two men to carry my guns. 

 In about an hour we arrived at the broken ground that 

 bordered the wood, and passing by two skeletons that the 

 birds had carefully picked since daybreak, we presently 

 found the one that had been protected, lying in a thicket. 

 After uncovering the dead ox, I found only one mark of teeth 

 at his throat, and one stroke of claws on his shoulder, which 

 proved that the act had been done by either a lion or a full- 

 grown lioness. 



The ordinary den of the lions, when they came into this 

 country, was about five hundred yards beyond the place 

 where the ox was lying, and being assured that the animal 

 would come from that direction, I placed myself accordingly^ 

 and sent off my men. I was about taking my seat, when 

 casting a last look over the plain, I caught sight of a lioness 

 walking on the road to Krenchela. After she had followed 

 some time this road, she turned aside on a path I well knew, 

 that led to a spring, and in about a quarter of an hour more 

 I saw her coming back by the same road and enter the 

 wood. As soon as she disappeared in the margin of the 

 forest, I took my position by the body to be ready for h,er 

 coming. 



