ACROSS COUNTRY IX A CARRIAGE 317 



of them. This animal is seldom seen by sportsmen, 

 and I believe it is considered quite rare. In four 

 months only one of our party had previously seen 

 any. Sometimes they savagely attack human be- 

 ings, and when they do their attack is fierce and 

 hard to repel. They watched us narrowly as we 

 approached them and then moved slowly away. 

 They seemed neither afraid nor ferocious. 



We each shot and missed. The pack split, and 

 Stephenson followed one little bunch while I fol- 

 lowed another. My course led me toward a shal- 

 low, rock-strewn nullah, and once or twice I fired 

 again at the wild dogs. But I couldn't hit them. 

 There was nothing remarkable in my failure to 

 make a good shot, but Stephenson, who is a cele- 

 brated rifle shot, seemed to be equally unfortunate 

 in his work. He was some distance away and his 

 bullets would not go where he wanted them to go. 



Suddenly my attention was riveted upon three 

 forms that walked slowly out of the nullah and 

 climbed the slope on the other side, about three hun- 

 dred and fifty yards away. I was transfixed with 

 amazement and could hardly believe my eyes. 



They were lions! 



One was a female and the other two immense 

 males. They were walking slowly, and once or 

 twice they stopped to look back at me. Then they 

 resumed their stately retreat. 



As soon as I recovered from my astonishment I 

 shouted to Stephenson, who had been lured far 

 away by the wild dogs. 



