xxin A SUCCESSFUL LION HUNT 263 



was amused to observe a jackal in attendance on 

 the pair. Every now and then he would come too 

 close to the zebra, when the lion would make a 

 short rush at him and scare him away. The little 

 jackal looked most ridiculous, scampering off before 

 the huge beast with his tail well down ; but no 

 sooner did the lion stop and return to his meal 

 than he crept nearer again. The natives say, by 

 the way, that a lion will eat every kind of animal- 

 including even other lions except a jackal or a 

 hyaena. I was also interested to notice the way in 

 which the lion got at the flesh of the zebra ; he took 

 a short run at the body, and putting his claws well 

 into the skin, in this manner tore off great strips of 

 the hide. 



While I was thus studying the picture, my 

 followers became impatient at my inactivity, and 

 coming up to the top of the rise, showed them- 

 selves on the sky-line. The lions saw them at once, 

 turning round and standing erect to stare at them. 

 There was not an atom of cover to be seen, nor 

 any chance of taking advantage of the rolling 

 ground, for it did not slope in the required direction ; 

 so I started to walk in the open in a sidelong 

 direction towards the formidable-looking pair. They 

 allowed me to come a hundred yards or so nearer 

 them, and then the lioness bolted, the lion following 

 her at a more leisurely trot. As soon as they left 



