ADVENTURES ALONG THE TANA 



thought a moment, and then, followed by his com- 

 panion, trotted slowly across our bows about eighty 

 yards away, while we continued our long range prac- 

 tice at the lions over their backs. 



In this we were not winning many cigars. F. had 

 a 280-calibre rifle shooting the Ross cartridge through 

 the much advertised grooveless oval bore. It was 

 little accurate beyond a hundred yards. Memba 

 Sasa had thrust the 405 into my hand, knowing it 

 for the "lion gun," and kept just out of reach with 

 the long-range Springfield. I had no time to argue 

 the matter with him. The 405 has a trajectory like 

 a rainbow at that distance, and I was guessing at it, 

 and not making very good guesses either. B. had his 

 Springfield and made closer practice, finally hitting 

 a leg of one of the beasts. We saw him lift his paw 

 and shake it, but he did not move lamely afterward, 

 so the damage was probably confined to a simple 

 scrape. It was a good shot anyway. Then they 

 disappeared over the top of the hill. 



We walked forward, regretting rhinos. Thirty 

 yards ahead of me came a thunderous and roaring 

 growl, and a magnificent old lion reared his head 

 from a low bush. He evidently intended mischief, 

 for I could see his tail switching. However, B. 

 had killed only one lion and I wanted very much to 

 give him the shot. Therefore, I held the front sight 



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