94 IN AFRICA 



within forty yards of the lion that I could get a 

 clear view of him. He was glaring at me, with tail 

 waving angrily, and his mouth was opened in a 

 savage snarl. I could see that he didn't like me. 



I raised the little .256 Mannlicher, aimed care- 

 fully at his open mouth and fired. The lion turned 

 a back somersault and a great thrill of exultation 

 suffused me. Already I saw the handsomely 

 mounted lion-skin rug ornamenting my den at 

 home. We approached cautiously, always remem- 

 bering that the real danger of lion hunting comes 

 after the lion has been shot. We threw stones in 

 the grass where he had lain, but no answering growl 

 was heard. I thought he was dead, but when we 

 finally reached the spot where he had been there was 

 no sign of him. He had vanished again. I searched 

 the ravine and then crossed to the high grass on the 

 other side. Then we saw him for an instant, half- 

 concealed, just in front of us. His head was hang- 

 ing, and he looked as though he had been hard hit. 

 Again he disappeared and we searched high and 

 low for him. For several hundred feet we beat the 

 grass without result. 



Then the grass was again fired and again the 

 hoarse growl came in angry protest. Walking 

 slowly, with guns ready for instant use, we ad- 

 vanced until we could see him under a tree seventy 

 yards ahead on my side of the ravine. He was 

 growling angrily. This time I used the double- 

 barreled cordite rifle and the first shot struck him in 

 the forehead without knocking him down. He 



