ACROSS THE MAU ESCARPMENT 75 



as he thought then. We found afterward that one of his 

 bullets had passed through the foreleg low down, not break- 

 ing the bone. His hunter, waiting for him to shoot, missed 

 his first shot, too, but as one of the lions made off toward 

 the river, wounded him twice, the first time shooting him 

 through the body but too far back, the second time in his 

 rump. The lion first stopped in the long grass that bor- 

 ders the river jungle, and somewhat recklessly they went 

 after him, into it, but he kept lying low and growled omi- 

 nously; then, finding they couldn't see him, they left for home 

 There was plenty of blood, and the hunter felt sure he would 

 die in a few hours. 



In the evening we talked the matter over and coming to 

 the conclusion from what J. J. W.'s hunter said that by 

 morning the beast must be dead, we determined to take 

 our gunboys and twenty porters to beat up the whole place, 

 if necessary, and save the skin from the vultures. Looking 

 back on the whole affair now, I blame myself for allow- 

 ing the porters to go into such a place, as I blamed the 

 hunter at the time, for taking my friend into long grass after 

 a wounded lion. It is an exceedingly dangerous thing 

 for even an experienced shot to do, one who has command 

 both of his nerves and of his weapon. J. J. W. had had no 

 previous experience of really dangerous game, and his 

 hunter, who afterward proved to be a very nervous shot 

 himself, failed his man badly in acting as he did. 



I also placed too much reliance on what this man told 

 me, of where the wounds he had given the lion lay. Had 

 the first bullet from his .350 Rigby taken the beast anywhere 

 near the shoulder, it would indeed have been safe work to 

 look for him next day. No lion could live twelve hours 

 shot, in that place, with such a gun. Unfortunately, instead 

 of the shoulder, the bullet had taken effect far back in the 

 guts, a wound that must prove fatal in time, but one which 

 might not cause death for some days. 



