Our Victim's Measurements 153 



have taken refuge, and thirty feet in front of that I 

 stop. Clods of earth are thrown at it. ... Then the 

 bushes bend, and we see that the lion is leaving the 

 other side : so I make a detour, and we find ourselves 

 face to face. . . . But a glance is sufficient to con- 

 vince me that the poor animal is to be feared 

 no longer; its mane clothed with blood, it drags 

 itself along with difficulty, feebly growling, looking 

 at me with its mouth wide open and its ears 

 flattened. ... I finish it off with a shot from the 303. 



Its skin covered with dry clots, the unfortunate 

 lion must have lost its blood even to the last drop. It 

 was smeared with it all over. Entering above the 

 heart, the bullet had traversed the Jungs and come 

 out at a hole as big as a five-franc piece. The animal 

 measured ] feet 4 inches ; it was in the full strength 

 of its age, and fairly fat. But what a night I had had 

 to spend, and what emotions I had experienced ! The 

 previous day had been very tiring. So I went 

 to sleep at the camp, to which, a few moments 

 afterwards, the lion was carried by eight men. 



You cannot obtain a very good idea from menagerie 

 specimens of the size of one of these magnificent lions 

 when in an adult wild state. Imagine an animal with 

 withers about 3 feet high, 6 feet in length exclusive 

 of the tail, from 13 to 15 inches across the chest, and 

 weighing between 440 and 500 pounds. It makes a 

 fine mark for a rifle, but it is dangerous and rare. 



The lions which had killed the zebra were four, 

 and they hunted in company. During the whole 

 of the time of our stay in the district the three 



