xxni A SUCCESSFUL LION HUNT 265 



four of the disappointed Wa Kamba, had come 

 up, so we started off in a body in pursuit of him. I 

 felt sure that he was lurking somewhere in the 

 grass not far off, and I knew that I could depend 

 upon the native eye to find him if he showed so 

 much as the tip of his ear. Nor was I disappointed, 

 for we had scarcely topped the next rise when one 

 of the Wa Kamba spotted the dark brown head of 

 the brute as he raised it for an instant above the 

 grass in order to watch us. We pretended not to 

 have seen him, however, and advanced to within two 

 hundred yards or so, when, as he seemed to be 

 getting uneasy, I thought it best to risk a shot even 

 at this range. I put up the 2ooyards sight and the 

 bullet fell short ; but the lion never moved. Raising 

 the sight another fifty yards, I rested the rifle on 

 Mahina's back for the next shot, and again missed ; 

 fortunately, however, the lion still remained quiet. I 

 then decided to put into practice the scheme I had 

 thought out the day I sat astride the lion I had 

 killed on the Kapiti Plain : so I told all my followers 

 to move off to the right, taking the mule with them, 

 and to make a half-circle round the animal, while 

 I lay motionless in the grass and waited. The ruse 

 succeeded admirably, for as the men moved round 

 so did the lion, offering me at last a splendid shoulder 

 shot. I took very careful, steady aim and fired, 

 with the result that he rolled over and over, and 



